


Leo Valdez & the Inescapable Curse

by MermaidMarie



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aftermath, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Post-The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo), The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo) Spoilers, dealing with grief
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2019-07-05 17:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15868746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MermaidMarie/pseuds/MermaidMarie
Summary: Leo has never been one to give up, whether it be on machines or on people. As far as he's concerned, if someone says a problem can't be fixed, they just haven't met Leo Valdez yet. After hearing some of the worst news of his entire life, Leo decides to set off on a quest that could very well get him killed. What else is new?Following the events of The Trials of Apollo: The Burning Maze. Major spoilers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Immediately after the events of The Burning Maze. I cannot stress enough that this fic is going to contain major spoilers. Not sure if this qualifies as canon divergence or not, considering it is technically canon compliant, as the next book isn't out yet.  
> Anyway, I love Leo Valdez and I think we all need more of him.

_Get it together, Valdez._

Leo held onto Festus so hard, his knuckles were white. He could imagine Hedge and Mellie and their kid driving somewhere on the streets below them, following Piper’s dad to Oklahoma. All of them, getting farther and farther away from California. Farther and farther away from Jason.

He could still picture Apollo, with the face of Lester Papadopoulus. The grim look on his face, his eyes downcast, his shoulders slumped. Traveling with Apollo, Leo had seen him upset before. This was different. Like there was no hope left. The _certainty_ of Apollo’s hopelessness is what grated on Leo the most, what got under his skin the deepest.

He could still picture Meg McCaffry, staring at the ground, silent tears leaking from her eyes. Poor Meg, too young to have seen everything she’d seen. The heavy sorrow radiating from her, like she’d seen so much death already, and she understood the permanence of what had happened. 

And Piper. Sweet, beautiful, strong Piper. Barely able to get the words out as she told Leo the news. Her voice had never sounded so weak, so helpless.

Jason was dead. Apollo knew it. Meg knew it. Piper knew it. There was no coming back from this one.

Festus creaked under Leo, like the bronze dragon was having as much trouble moving away from the West Coast as Leo was. Like it pained him to turn his back on Jason.

Leo couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t fair. He’d come back from the dead—he always thought he’d see Piper and Jason again. The three of them, together at last, after the storm of last year passed. He’d imagined it over and over. When he and Calypso were lost, one of the things that kept him going was picturing the looks on Piper and Jason’s faces when Leo came back, alive and grinning.

_What, you thought a little explosion could kill me? Please, I’m made of fire._

If he concentrated, he could still see that daydream.

Piper punching him hard in the arm. _Leo Valdez, do you have any idea what you put us through?_ she’d yell. And then she’d hug him, kiss him on the cheek like she used to. _I swear to the gods, if you ever pull anything like that again, I’ll kill you myself._

Jason, shaking his head slightly, a little dazed and shocked, but overall as calm and collected as Jason ever was. The steady, strong presence they’d all gotten so used to. _Leo, man, we’ve been looking everywhere for you. Where have you been?_

Leo, shrugging and smiling, rubbing his arm where Piper had definitely left a bruise. _Oh, you know, around. What, did I miss anything?_

Jason would laugh, and they’d hug, and it would be like nothing had changed, like everything was fine. Because Leo came back from the dead. 

Piper hadn’t even hit Leo, or yelled at him, or called him an idiot. She’d broken down. Fallen against him in tears, sobbing incoherently into his shoulder. Leo had never seen Piper so devastated. She was usually so composed, so controlled, even in a crisis. But this, this was too much even for her.

Leo tried to put himself back in the moment before he learned. He’d landed Festus, went over to greet Apollo, Meg, and Piper, smiling after a more-or-less-successful quest. Hey, good news, right? They looked so shell-shocked, the three of them. Their faces were slack and empty. No smiles.

It had taken Leo only a few moments to realize that something was horribly, horribly wrong. The silence was so loud.

_Where’s Jason?_

The last thing he said before he learned the news.

_Where’s Jason?_

The last moment where he believed in ignorance that Jason was alive, that Jason was okay.

_Where’s Jason?_

The last moment he got to believe that he’d ever see his best friend again.

The news of what happened to Jason sat heavily in Leo’s chest. It was hard to believe, hard to fathom. Jason Grace, gone. Leo couldn’t understand that. He couldn’t wrap his mind around it.

_Jason Grace? Son of Jupiter, ex-praetor, Roman and Greek hero alike, one of the seven in the last big prophecy? Dead? I’m sorry, you must be mistaken, you must be thinking of a different Jason. Jason Grace can’t die._

Leo swallowed hard. Hadn’t Jason already survived enough? Hadn’t they _all_ suffered enough? Didn’t they all deserve a kinder end than this? Jason didn’t need to die a hero’s death—he’d already been living a hero’s life. His work wasn’t over. His reward of a calm, safe life hadn’t begun.

The idea of going back to Indianapolis to be with Calypso now… It felt wrong. As much as Leo wanted to breathe after all he’d been through, how could he, knowing that Jason would never get that life? Not with Piper, not with anyone.

The seven had survived Gaea. Leo had made sure of that. All his careful planning, all his loopholes, all his sacrifice. Leo had known that either he or Jason was going to have to die to fulfill the prophecy. _Storm or fire._ But Leo, ever the mechanic, he’d tweaked the prophecy. He’d cheated the system. He made sure they all got through it. Everyone lived, happy endings all around.

And now… This. Leo couldn’t help but think this was his fault. If he’d just stayed dead like he was supposed to, Jason could’ve been safe. Leo was supposed to make sure that Jason wasn’t the one who died. He knew it had to be _him_. The world would’ve gone on fine without Leo. Without Jason? Not so much.

Selfish. He’d brought himself back to life, not considering the consequences. You can’t cheat death and expect everything to be okay afterwards.

Behind him, Leo heard Piper let out a small, strangled sob, like she was trying desperately not to cry.

Something inside Leo broke at that moment. This wasn’t okay. He couldn’t let Piper suffer like this. Couldn’t let Apollo and Meg live with this. Couldn’t let Jason go out like this.

Leo could fix it. Leo could fix anything. Couldn’t he?

That was Leo’s job, after all. _You say it’s impossible? I love a challenge._

He had to make this right.

He’d have to make a detour before going back to Indianapolis.

_It should’ve been me._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is seeming like it's going to turn into a kind of long story. I just need more of Leo's perspective in my life. Please comment, let me know what you think. It helps to know that someone else is reading it, too. Other than just me, I mean.

Tristan McLean and the Hedges were unpacking their cars, getting ready for their new lives, as Piper and Leo hovered awkwardly near Festus out front. Leo was tempted to stick around longer, spend some time with Piper. She’d offered. So had Tristan. The idea of staying for a couple nights was appealing. 

But Leo had work to do. He didn’t have time to wait. He had to get moving. As a mechanic, he knew—problems only get worse if you wait. You gotta fix things the second they come up. Leo was good at that. _Don’t stop to think about it, don’t stop to worry, just get to work._

“Well,” Piper said, taking a breath. “Good luck in Indianapolis. Stay in touch.”

“I’ve gotta take a detour before heading back,” Leo replied, rubbing the back of his head.

Piper tilted her head slightly. “Where are you going?” she said, her voice apprehensive.

“I’m going to just stop by Camp Half-Blood,” Leo replied, trying and failing to sound nonchalant.

“Leo,” Piper said, her voice firm. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

He could feel the charmspeak washing over him, but it wasn’t particularly strong. Piper’s heart didn’t seem to be in it. Besides, _stupid_ was such a vague and debatable word. Who’s to say if what Leo was planning was stupid or not?

Leo grinned. “Who, me?” he replied.

Piper crossed her arms. “ _Leo_ ,” she repeated.

Leo sighed. His smile faded fast. “The phones still aren’t working,” he said. “I haven’t been able to figure out any reliable methods of communication.” He paused. He could feel a lump in his throat. “Someone… Someone has to tell Percy and Annabeth.”

Piper’s gaze dropped to the ground for a moment. When she looked back up, her eyes were shiny, but no tears fell. “And that has to be you?”

Leo shrugged. “Apollo and Meg will have to tell Hazel and Frank… Reyna, too. I don’t know where Thalia is.” He tried to force a smile. “And you know how Annabeth hates being the last one to know something.”

Piper didn’t laugh. Or smile. “Nico might already know,” she said. “He might’ve already told them.”

Leo began fiddling with some spare wires he had in his pocket, shaping them into something real. He’d been careful not to mention Nico. “Maybe,” he replied, not looking at Piper. “But we can’t be sure. They deserve to know, Piper.”

Piper was quiet for a few moments. Leo hoped she wouldn’t sweet-talk him into telling her the truth or something. The girl had the power to make him talk. He was just hoping she was too distracted by grief to think of it.

That thought immediately sent a wave of guilt over Leo. How could he hope for something like that?

“I guess you’re right,” Piper said softly. “Thank you. For being the one to tell them. I don’t think I can tell the story again.”

Leo didn’t reply. He couldn’t accept any gratitude from Piper. Not now. He finished assembling the small object and handed it to Piper.

She took it from his hands, a little pinwheel made of copper wire and paper. “What is it?” she asked.

“Just a pinwheel,” Leo said. “You know, the things that spin in the wind.”

“I can see that,” Piper said. “But what does it do?”

Leo smiled. He guessed it made sense that people would assume his creations had extra features. He did like to add those. “Nothing,” he said. “It’s just a pinwheel.”

Piper studied Leo’s face carefully, as if searching for something. “What’s it for?” she asked.

Leo shrugged. “It’s just a trinket, Beauty Queen.”

“Thanks,” she replied, uncertainly. She looked at the little copper pinwheel like she expected it to do something other than spin in the slow wind.

Leo looked back at Festus, ready for take-off. “Well, Pipes, I should—”

“We looked for you,” she blurted out. “We looked for you for _months_.”

_We._ Leo shoved his hands in his pockets. The only thing he could seem to find in his tool belt now were breath mints. “I know,” he replied.

“Where _were_ you?” she asked. She didn’t sound angry. Leo almost wished she did. Anger, he could handle. 

“A lot of places,” he said. “Calypso and I—we were trying to find our way back here. We only got back to Camp Half-Blood because Harley sent out a home-beacon signal.”

“We had to hear that you were back from Apollo,” she replied softly.

“I’m sorry,” Leo said. What else could he say?

“Jason—” Piper’s voice caught on his name and she had to pause to take a shaky breath. “Jason made all the outlets in the room spark when he heard.”

Leo almost wanted to smile at that. “Sounds about right.”

Piper looked into his eyes. There was no judgment in her gaze, only sympathy. “I’m sorry. That you never got to see him again. After you died.”

Leo could’ve fallen apart right then and there, under Piper’s warm gaze and the weight of Jason’s absence. “I always thought the three of us would be together again. I thought…” He trailed off.

Piper shook her head. “It never would’ve been like how it used to be. Things change. People change.” A tear slipped through her eyelashes. “Still… I thought we’d have more time to figure it out. Figure out how to… How to be friends. After everything.”

Something about the way Piper said friends. Leo couldn’t stop himself from asking. “You two… You broke up?”

Piper nodded. “I needed… I needed to figure out who I was supposed to be. Without… Everything.” She brushed the tears from her cheeks. “I loved him, though. I really, really loved him.”

“I know you did,” Leo said softly. He put his arms around her, holding her tightly. She cried softly into his shoulder again. They stayed like that for a few long moments before Piper pulled away.

She sniffled a little, straightening up and wiping her eyes again. “Tell Percy and Annabeth…”

Leo nodded. “I’ll give them your best,” he replied. Then he gave a little salute and a bow, trying to grin like everything was okay. “Now, I must be off. Stay gold, Beauty Queen.”

Piper nodded. No comment on the nickname. “Good luck, Leo. Stay safe.”

Leo climbed onto Festus, glancing back at Piper one last time before taking off into the sky.

_Yeah. Stay safe._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind where the plot actually starts. I have so much I should be doing right now, but instead, I just keep wanting to write this. Anyway, let me know what you think.  
> I just love Leo Valdez so much. He's so good.

Leo wondered where the monsters were.

Were they just going to let him travel in peace? That would be a first. Leave it to the monsters to leave Leo alone when he’s dragging his feet, the one time he’s not in a rush.

Any time there’s a time limit, you can count on the monsters to get in the way. _Oh, three days until the world ends? Here, fight some empousai. Not enough? Throw in a stray hell hound or two. Thought we were done? Hilarious. Have a hostile giant._

Every half hour on _Argo II,_ a sea monster would attack the ship. Or if they weren’t in the ocean, the storm spirits would attack the sails. Percy and Jason always had work to do.

_Jason._

Nope. No time to think about that. Back to the task at hand. Where were all the monsters?

Leo thought it was pretty rich that he’d get left alone _now._ On his way to a hell of a dangerous mission, with no guarantee it would work, and delivering the worst news possible to some good friends. Just this once, he was hoping for some kind of delay. Wasn’t there anything left for him to fight?

Leo sighed. “Let’s take a break, buddy,” he murmured to Festus, patting the dragon on the neck as he guided them down to a wide expanse of forest. Maybe he’d at least get to sleep or something.

Festus made whirring noises as they descended, like he was confused. Leo supposed that made sense. It was a little early to stop. But it had been a long few days. Leo couldn’t take much more of this.

They settled into a clearing just big enough for Festus to curl up. The sun was still up in the sky. Leo estimated it was about five in the evening. Apollo and Meg might already be at Camp Jupiter. They might have already told Hazel and Frank what happened.

Piper and her dad would still be unpacking, getting just about ready to start talking about where they wanted to go for dinner.

What would Percy and Annabeth be doing? Leo wasn’t even sure they were _at_ Camp Half-Blood. The school year wasn’t over yet. Were they still in school? He had a hard time keeping track of everyone. In his defense, it had been a chaotic year.

Nico would be at Camp Half-Blood though. Leo was pretty sure of that. He needed to see Percy and Annabeth, sure. He hadn’t been lying about that. He was going to break the news to them. But Nico was the one he wanted to see.

Leo sat down in the grass, leaning against Festus, who was making a sound like a purring cat. He didn’t think there was any way he could sleep, despite the fact that he’d barely gotten any rest in days. It was still light out, and Festus’ purr was loud, and the news about Jason still hadn’t sunk in. Everything was too much, too raw.

But, despite everything, Leo was out the second he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

But demi-gods never get restful sleep anyway. Why would it be any different now?

Leo knew almost immediately what he was about to see.

_No. No no no. Not this, anything but this, please, no._

There was no sound here. Leo was observing it like a silent movie.

He was standing by Apollo, in a dark room with violent images covering the walls and floor. It was a ship, a ship that was breaking apart, filling with water. Apollo and Piper were bloody, staring in horror at the scene playing out in front of them.

Leo didn’t want to look, but he turned anyway. Jason was fighting valiantly, with arrows sticking out of his limbs. Leo didn’t know how he could move at all. But there he was, a determined, dangerous look in his eye. Like someone who already knew they were going to die but wasn’t about to let go easily.

Jason turned to look at Apollo, a kind of acceptance in his vivid blue eyes. Leo’s heart sunk. 

The one thing he heard from the eerie silence of the vision was Jason’s last words, the ones he shouted to Apollo.

_Go! Remember!_

And then Leo watched, helpless, as a spear was driven through his best friend’s back. Leo choked back a sob as he watched Jason fall to the ground, lying limply on his stomach. He was so still. He turned and saw Piper, her face twisted in shock, her mouth open in a scream that Leo couldn't hear. He saw Apollo, with his eyes wide and disbelieving, shock and horror across his face.

Leo turned back to Jason, to the son of Jupiter on the ground with a spear in his back. It was an image that seared into Leo's mind, and image he knew he could never get rid of. His best friend, dead on the floor of a sinking ship, stabbed in the back. If that wasn’t bad enough, Leo watched as the Roman emperor Caligula pulled the spear out of Jason, to violently stab him again.

Leo stared at his friend. The one he’d died to protect in the battle against Gaea. The one he’d envied, resented, admired. Loved. How could it have ended like this?

The scene faded around him, thank the gods, because Leo couldn’t handle it. He’d never wanted to see it in the first place. 

As the image changed to a calm, peaceful garden, Leo fell to his knees, unable to hold himself together any longer. He curled into himself, tears streaming from his eyes. It wasn’t fair. Jason didn’t deserve this. 

_I never got to see him again._

The world felt like it was spinning around Leo. This was wrong. All of this was so wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen. 

He was so young. They were  _all_ so young. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. 

Leo didn’t know how long it took him to tire out, how long it took for the sobs to make his throat feel raw and his head pound. He remembered what his mother had told him once, when he was little and he was crying uncontrollably because a toy he'd made had broken. _Mijo, just breathe, okay? It'll be alright. We can fix this, it'll only take a little time._ He sat up slowly, breathing shakily.  _Just breathe._

He shifted to lean against a stone fountain and he closed his eyes, trying to erase the images he’d seen from his mind.

“Dear Leo, you know that won’t work,” a gentle voice said. “You can’t unsee these horrors.”

Leo’s eyes snapped open, suddenly humiliated and terrified at the idea that someone had seen his meltdown. He hated crying in front of people. He'd taught himself to save his tears for when he was alone, ever since the foster homes where the other kids would pounce on weakness, or where the foster parent had no patience for a broken kid. He couldn't cry in front of anyone without bracing himself to get slapped.

His hands were shaking. He focused on his breathing, reminded himself that this wasn't his old foster homes. This was just a dream. 

A woman was kneeling in the flowers, wearing gardening gloves and pulling up weeds. She wore a large sunhat that covered her face.

Then she looked up and smiled. She had long, shiny brown hair and something in her eyes reminded Leo of his mother.

“People tend to put flowers into two main categories,” she said. “Perennials and annuals. Perennials, you see, you can plant and trust that they’ll come back the next season. Annuals, on the other hand, only last a season. They’re more work, but they’re often more spectacular.”

“Uh, okay. Thanks for the botany lesson,” Leo said slowly, frowning a little.

“It’s the springtime, Leo,” the woman said with a warm smile and an understanding tilt of her head. “You can’t visit the Goddess of Springtime during this season and not expect to learn something about flowers.”

“You’re… you’re Persephone?” Leo asked. He was hoping he’d remembered his Greek mythology. Greek gods and goddesses did _not_ like being mistaken for someone else. That was a good way to get turned into a sheep or something. Leo didn't think he'd make a good sheep.

But Persephone nodded. “It makes sense that you would come see me, doesn’t it? Given what you’re thinking of doing?”

Leo began fidgeting nervously. “Oh, yeah? And what am I thinking of doing?”

Persephone laughed. “Now, now, Leo. There’s no need to play dumb. It’s just the two of us here.”

Leo was still uneasy. “Uh, yeah, thanks, I think I’ll keep my plans to myself, Mrs. Queen of the Underworld.”

She sighed, standing up out of the flowers. Maybe it was because Leo was on the ground and also still a little terrified, but she seemed impossibly tall.

“Dear boy, I live half my life in the Underworld,” she said. “The other half, I’m here.” She gestured around. “I do have a garden in the Underworld, too. Only very specific plants can thrive there. I like my garden down there, but you cannot see the sun.”

“Sure, that makes sense,” Leo replied. He got to his feet, unsure what he was supposed to do in this situation. He hadn’t talked to many gods, really. The most notable interactions being with his father and with Hera. He may not have been especially respectful then, so he didn’t exactly have practice. Should he bow or something?

Persephone smiled. “Leo, I’m sure you know that death tends to be a permanent thing. I’ve spent enough time in the Underworld to know that it is very rare a soul gets another chance to live.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard,” Leo said, unable to keep the edge out of his voice. _Hazel came back. I came back. Jason could come back, too._

“You know the story of Orpheus?”

Leo tried to think. “Uh, yeah, he was the musician, right? The one that tried to get his wife back after she died?”

Persephone nodded. “That’s the one. He failed.” She didn’t elaborate.

“That’s uplifting,” Leo muttered. “You’re not even gonna tell the story?”

“I am not here to reassure you,” Persephone said. “I am here to warn you, my dear. Your friend has already reached the Underworld. You will not be able to retrieve him. You will fail. It will be a fruitless quest, filled with nothing but heartbreak, and it will cost you. You will discover that you cannot fix everything.”

“You don’t know what I can do,” Leo said, but his confidence was wavering.

“Your friend, does he not deserve peace? After all he’s been through?” Persephone said the words so matter-of-factly, but they cut Leo.

“He deserves _life,”_ Leo insisted.

“Death is not so bad,” Persephone said, gazing off into the distance. “It can be sad, yes, but it is not pain. Not for everyone. For some, it is rest after a long journey. And your friend, young though he was, had a very long and painful journey.”

“No offense, lady, but you’re immortal,” Leo replied, crossing his arms over his chest. “What do you know about it?”

“I’ve seen many mortals die,” she replied, a coldness creeping into her voice. “Many younger than your friend. Many whose deaths were empty and meaningless. Jason was lucky to die a hero's death.”

"Lucky," Leo repeated. He could feel anger rising in his chest. _Lucky? Is she serious?_ Leo squared his shoulders as best he could, though he still felt small in front of this woman. “You’re not going to talk me out of this,” he said firmly, and he could feel his hands getting hot, like they were going to start smoking any second.

Persephone laughed. “I suppose I expected as much. Still, I had to try.” She smiled, a little teasingly. “I imagine you would understand that.”

“Y-yeah, I guess so,” Leo said, a little caught off guard.

"Perhaps the quest will not be completely pointless," she continued thoughtfully. "It may teach you how to fail."

He decided to try his luck. “Uh, you wouldn’t… You wouldn’t happen to have any hints for me, would you? I mean, since you’re here and all.”

Persephone raised an eyebrow. “My, aren’t we bold. Are you asking for my advice on how best you can evade my husband as you break the very laws of nature?”

“Uh… No?” Leo said.

Persephone studied Leo, as though deciding what to do with him. Whether to throw him to the wolves, or maybe off a bridge. “My dear Leo, you are as brave as you are reckless. Your persistence may very well be your fatal flaw.”

Leo got a little indignant at that. Since when was persistence a bad thing? “So what? I don’t give up,” he replied, glaring just a little.

There was pity in Persephone’s smile. “And you don’t know when to let go.”

Leo didn’t have anything to say to that. He felt a spark crackle along his fingertips.

“Leo, I think you’ll find that you already know where to start,” Persephone told him. “If you remember where you’ve already been. Seek out the Shadow’s daughter. She lies somewhere between Death and Sleep. Perhaps she can teach you what it means to make things right.”

Leo frowned. _And just what in Hades is that supposed to mean?_ Just once, he’d like the gods to not be so cryptic and evasive. How hard is it to just give some directions? Maybe a name? An address to look up on Google Maps?

Persephone began to turn away, walking back into the garden, and the edges of the vision began to shimmer like it was fading.

“Hey, wait,” Leo said quickly, nervously. He needed to ask. He needed to know. “Uh, this isn’t… Did Hades… Did Hades do this because of what I did?” _Is this my fault?_

“I suppose you mean your trick with the physician’s cure?” Persephone said, turning back slightly. She smiled at him, but it was cold, mocking. Leo was suddenly very afraid of her. She really did look like Queen of the Underworld now. He resisted the urge to step back several thousand paces. “That certainly did not escape our attention, dear boy. But to answer your question, no. Hades did not take your friend because of your actions. Sometimes, tragic things happen, and there is simply nothing we could have done to cause or prevent them.”

With that, she turned and walked away. Leo’s heart pounded.

Leo woke up, still tired. He couldn’t get the image of Jason’s death out of his head. Or Persephone’s certainty that he’d never save Jason. _You will discover that you cannot fix everything._

The sun wasn’t up yet, but the sky was getting lighter. Leo must’ve slept through the whole evening. It seemed to be right before dawn. Maybe four in the morning. If they left now, they could get to Camp Half-Blood before lunch.

Assuming no monsters showed up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next several chapters of this are already drafted, because I don't know how to pace myself.  
> Please comment, let me know what you think. It helps me feel justified in procrastinating school work for this.

The air was crisp and sharp that way it always is before the sun comes up. Leo vaguely wondered about Apollo and how he was doing, as the colors of the sunrise began to streak across the sky.

Leo wondered how it felt for Apollo, to watch the sunrise and sunset every day, knowing that his fall from Olympus didn’t affect the natural world. It must make him feel so small, Leo thought. The idea that what you do, your life’s work… Its absence would go largely unnoticed.

He also thought about Piper. About the experience of waking up in a new, unfamiliar place. Leo was painfully aware of how it can hurt to wake up and not truly recognize where you are. He didn’t really know what it would be like to move from a home you’d known so long to another home, but he did know something about feeling displaced.

He remembered all the mornings he spent in tunnels, under bridges. How restless those nights were, where he had to be ready to jump up at a moment’s notice. He could never really be asleep. You weren’t safe if you were asleep.

Most of all, he thought about the dull pain of waking up after some horrible change happens in your life. Often, when you’ve had a bad day, one of the best fixes is to just go to sleep. The morning will be better and all that. A fresh start.

This morning wasn’t like that. When you wake up after someone has died, you wake up and experience their death all over again. Because you know, again, that it wasn’t a nightmare. This is your life now. This is your life, and they’re gone.

Leo remembered how it felt when his mother died. Every morning for months, he went through remembering that this pain was his new normal.

Leo sighed, leaning forward into Festus. Festus creaked in response. He began tapping against the bronze of Festus’ neck in Morse code.

_Remember. Remember. Remember._

Jason’s very last word.

Eventually, the Morse code morphed into what his mom first taught him.

_I love you. I love you. I love you._

When Leo got close to Camp Half-Blood, he decided to land Festus far enough away that they wouldn’t draw attention to themselves. He didn’t really want to get surrounded by the rest of the demi-gods. He didn’t want to hear their questions, about Apollo, about Calypso, about Camp Jupiter. More than anything, he wanted to leave as fast as possible.

Festus made some disgruntled whirring sounds as Leo landed and stashed him behind Bunker 9.

“I know, buddy, I’m sorry,” Leo said, petting Festus’ metal nose. “I’ll be back soon. Just sit tight.”

Leo slipped into the bunker first, to make sure no one was there. He saw the remnants of his time building _Argo II._ Scattered sketches, some tools on the table. It almost looked like he'd never left. Like no one had been here since he died. He didn’t expect it to hit him so hard, but he had to take a moment to make sure he wouldn’t start crying.

When Leo got himself under control, he took the long way into camp, trying to avoid all the busiest spots.

The first person he ran into was Will Solace.

“Leo!” Will said, eyes wide with surprise. “Uh, you’re back.”

“I am,” Leo confirmed. He smiled. “I’m a hard guy to get rid of.”

“Did… Did you want to go back to your cabin?” Will asked. “You’re kind of… on the other side of camp.”

“No, uh, I’m just…” he hesitated. First things first. “Are Percy and Annabeth at camp?”

“Yeah, actually.” Will sounded surprised. “They were just stopping by. Apparently, Grover’s coming back soon. They wanted to greet him.”

Leo nodded. He glanced toward camp. “Listen, I don’t really… I don’t really want to see everyone right this second. Could you get me to the Big House? Discreetly? I just need to talk to Chiron, and then Percy and Annabeth.”

Will furrowed his brow. “Sure, I could do that. Leo, did something happen? You’re, um… Different.”

Leo tried to cover up with a grin. “Ah, Will, it must be all the time I spent with your father. Too much poetry. So much angst.” Leo made a show of looking around. “Speaking of angst, where’s your cheery boyfriend?”

Will cracked a smile. “He’s a counselor, technically, so he’s teaching a class this morning.”

Leo’s grin became more genuine. Nico? Teaching? “Seriously? What does he teach? Sulking in corners? Sneaking up on people?”

“History,” Will replied.

Leo brightened. “Hey, do you think he shadow travels behind the students who aren’t paying attention to startle them?”

Will shot him a good-natured glare. “Don’t give him any ideas.”

Leo laughed. “I can’t promise that. Lead the way, Doc.”

They managed to avoid running into anyone, which Leo suspected was using up the little luck he had.

Will hung back when they got to the Big House.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Will said with a smile. “It, ah. It seemed serious.” He offered a little wave before walking off. 

Leo had to give him props on being perceptive. He turned to the doors, his heart hammering in his chest. He slipped inside quietly, hearing voices in the other room.

“Do we know when he’s supposed to get here?” That was Annabeth.

“As you know, it has become nearly impossible to send and receive messages,” Chiron replied evenly. “We’re lucky we know that Grover is on his way at all.”

“Even the empathy link is weak,” Percy said. “All I can really tell is that he’s alive.”

Leo didn’t want to eavesdrop any more than he already had. He didn’t know Grover. He also didn’t really know what an empathy link was. Sounded personal. At least all three of them were already here.

He fought the urge to announce himself with a joke or a quip. It wasn’t the time for it. Even he knew that.

“Hello?” he called out.

The other room fell silent for a moment.

“ _Leo?”_ Annabeth called back, her voice shocked. She rushed towards the door from the other room, throwing her arms around Leo and hugging him tight enough that it hurt. Percy and Chiron followed, a little slower.

Leo chuckled, a little uncomfortable with the sudden show of affection. “Uh, hey. Yeah. I missed you, too.”

Annabeth pulled away and punched him in the arm. That was more familiar. “You just _had_ to come back when I wasn’t around, and then leave again. And _then,_ Percy just mentions it—like _oh, by the way, Leo isn’t dead._ We thought you _died,_ Leo.”

Leo rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. He had a sinking feeling that in a moment, both Percy and Annabeth would silently wish he was the one that died.

“Yeah, uh, sorry about all that,” Leo said, his voice a little higher than usual.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. “You’re awfully subdued. What’s wrong? What happened?” She frowned, looking nervous. “Did something happen to Calypso? Or… or Camp Jupiter?”

“Calypso is fine. Camp Jupiter is… intact.” Leo took a breath. “But, um… It’s Jason.”

Percy stepped forward. “Jason? What about Jason?” He glanced at Annabeth before looking back at Leo. “What happened?”

Annabeth lowered her eyes like she already knew what was coming.

Leo managed to recount Piper’s story without crying. He managed to keep his voice from shaking. Just barely.

As he spoke, Percy’s eyes darkened dangerously and Annabeth’s filled with tears. Leo said as much as he could. He didn’t tell them about the dream. He didn’t want to have to relive it. And they didn’t need to know.

Chiron coughed, though it sounded suspiciously like covering up crying. “I’ll give you all a moment,” he said quietly, turning and leaving the room.

Percy looked ready to punch the wall. He clenched his fists like he wanted to. “I’ll kill him,” he said. “I’ll kill Apollo, I swear—”

“Percy,” Annabeth said softly, tears running down her face. She put her hand on Percy’s chest. “Stop. You know it wasn’t Apollo’s fault.”

“But…” Percy stared wildly at Leo, and Leo wanted to shrink away. “ _Apollo_ dragged him on that quest. Didn’t he? Jason shouldn’t have even been there. He got Jason killed, that…”

Annabeth shook her head. “Jason knew what he was doing.”

“He never could resist a chance to be the hero,” Leo added with a sad smile and a shrug. “Would you have done anything different?”

Percy sighed, running a hand through his hair. His flash of anger seemed to be dissipating, leaving only the heavy news.

Annabeth’s eyes widened suddenly. “Is Piper…”

“She’s, uh… She’s in Oklahoma with her dad.” Leo thought about how she’d broken down. “She’s… She’ll be okay. Eventually.” He hoped so, anyway. The dream had shaken him to his core. Piper had actually been there. Leo didn’t really know how you could recover from that.

“Poor Piper,” Annabeth murmured. She quickly brushed the tears from her cheeks, but more fell to replace them. “We should see her. Before going to New Rome.”

Percy nodded. He was staring at the floor, his jaw clenched. Leo noticed the tears dripping from his eyelashes.

Leo’s throat felt tight. He remembered the prophecy of the seven, how the threat of the words followed them. He remembered how he knew, _knew,_ that one of them was going to have to die.

It was supposed to only be him. The prophecy was over. They were supposed to be safe.

“Someone’s gonna have to tell Thalia,” Percy murmured.

Annabeth brought a hand to her mouth and let out a soft sob.

Leo thought about the moment before he knew. _Where’s Jason?_ He felt guilt in the pit of his stomach. He’d been the one to take that from Percy and Annabeth. To stop them from believing that Jason was okay.

Rationally, Leo knew this logic was flawed. It was better that they know. But ignorance looked pretty good right about now.

Leo pushed his hands absent-mindedly into his tool belt. Breath mints again.

“I’m sorry. To be the one to tell you this,” Leo kept his eyes on the ground.

Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder. “No, Leo. Thank you. For coming all this way to tell us.”

Percy gave Leo a stiff hug, and Leo thought, ridiculously, about how much taller Percy was than him. “I just… I just can’t believe that the seven of us will never…” Percy didn’t finish his thought. He didn’t need to.

Leo ducked his head, feeling awkward, and guilty, and _sad._

He had to get out of there. He remembered something his dad had said about being bad with organic lifeforms. Well, all this emotion and grief, it was all so _human,_ and Leo needed to escape.

He cleared his throat, fidgeting. “I don’t mean to… I, um. I wanted to go to the Zeus cabin. I mean, I know Jason isn’t…”

Annabeth nodded. “Of course. We’ll be staying until Grover gets here, so just… Come say goodbye before you leave.”

Leo smiled weakly before essentially dashing out of there.

On the list of things Leo never wanted to do again, this experience was pretty high up there. Somewhere below watching Jason die.

He managed to dodge any of the other campers on his way to Zeus’ cabin. He slipped inside, closing the door quietly behind him, pressing his palm against it to steady himself.

Leo didn’t know what he’d expected to find. Maybe Jason, lounging on the bed like he’d never left at all. But except for the corner with Thalia’s old stuff, there was nothing in the cabin. Jason hadn’t left anything behind.

Nevertheless, Leo sat on the floor facing the bed where Jason had slept, those months he lived here.

Leo sighed loudly. “Hey, man. It’s been a while, huh?” he said, his voice quiet. “Guess it’ll be even longer now."

He picked at a loose thread in his jeans. The cabin felt so big, like it was drawing attention to just how empty it was. Really, Jason hadn't lived here all that long. Not compared to his time at Camp Jupiter. But in Leo's mind, this was Jason's home. It was where he'd known Jason the longest. They'd spent those months, working on  _Argo II,_ preparing for the quest. He remembered how he and Jason had spent less and less time together, as Leo had to focus more on building the ship and Jason had started dating Piper. Leo always figured they'd have more time. 

"You know, I’ve been thinking," he said. "I get… I get why everyone has been so mad at me. I understand it now.”

He stared at the bed, half hoping Jason would somehow hear him and answer. It felt stupid to talk to himself like this. But he kept going.

“Because I’m… I gotta say, man, I’m really mad at you for this.” Leo furrowed his brow, tried in vain to swallow back some tears. “I don’t want to be. I swear. But… I’m angry. Freaking pissed, dude. You chose to sacrifice yourself. To go on a mission where you _knew_ you’d die.”

Jason’s ghost was nowhere to be found.

Leo laughed a little. “I know, I know, I get that this has gotta sound hypocritical. Coming from me. _Leo Valdez, mad about self-sacrifice?"_  He shook his head."I’m… I’m sorry. For what I must have put you through. I mean, this _sucks,_ Jason. It really, seriously sucks.”

Leo looked up at the ceiling. Tears were running down his face at this point, but he managed to smirk. “You really stole my thunder, you know. You didn’t have to one-up me like that. You could’ve just let me win, let me be the big hero for once, but _no,_ you had to sacrifice yourself and _not_ come back. Typical. Just make my heroism look bad. I put a lot of work into my theatrics, dude. You ruined it.”

The cabin felt so empty. So quiet. It was like Jason had never been here at all. Leo remembered what it felt like, to find out that day they all came here that his friendship with Jason had been a trick of the Mist. Piper had taken it harder than him, but it was… It was kind of awful.

Leo and Jason had been best friends. And then, just like that, Leo found out that it was all a figment. It had never happened. One of the best friends Leo had ever had, and it wasn’t even real.

He _remembered._ He remembered meeting Jason at the Wilderness School, this tall, blond Superman type. He remembered Jason laughing at his jokes in class. He remembered the two of them getting in trouble when Leo screwed up a project they did together. He remembered thinking that Jason would be mad at him, thinking that Jason wouldn’t want to be friends anymore. And he remembered Jason laughing it off, finding the whole thing funny. And none of that was ever real.

They became friends for real after all that, and the false memories Leo had faded, but they never went away. Every once in a while, Leo would try to make an inside joke or mention something that happened at school, and then he’d remember. The fictional history their friendship was built on, it still existed in Leo’s mind. It always kind of hurt that their history didn’t exist to Jason, even though it wasn’t his fault.

“We all loved you, you know,” Leo said quietly to the empty room. His voice echoed just a little. “Your sacrifice… It was a good thing, I get it. You were trying to be selfless. You had to save Piper. But now… You’re gone. And we’re the ones who have to live with the consequences. Not you.”

Leo wiped his face with the back of his hand and sniffled. “Not to sound corny, but… I miss you. I’ve missed you for _months._ I never thought… I never thought I’d be gone that long. I thought I’d be able to come back, stroll into camp, surprise everyone, make some jokes, and you’d still be here. But you’re not, you’re not _here_ , and Piper’s gone, and Hazel and Frank are in California… Percy and Annabeth are going to college… Gods, it sounds so _stupid,_ but I’m gonna be… I don’t like being left behind, okay?” Leo spread his hands, studying the callouses that had developed on them. "I know, man. It sounds so pathetic."

He took a shaky breath. “Nemesis told me that I’d never find a place with you guys. That I’d always be the odd man out. The _seventh wheel._ That always felt… It always felt true. It feels even more true now.” Leo swallowed. “Part of the reason I… Part of the reason I decided to be the one to die in the fight against Gaea… It was because I knew everyone needed you more. It would be… It would be okay. If it were me. If the physician’s cure didn’t work, I mean. You know? But if it were you…” He trailed off. "Well, I guess we'll see now, won't we?"

Leo shook his head and laughed again. “But no. I’m not giving up on you, Jason. You can’t make me. I’ll drag you back from Hades myself if I can. Screw your heroic sacrifice, man. I want my best friend back.”

It didn’t feel like Jason heard him or anything. But it did feel good to say it all out loud. Even if it was just Leo talking to himself in a cold, empty room. And hey, maybe Zeus would hear and send some help. That’d be cool.

Leo glanced at the statue of Zeus as he got up and gave a crooked smile. _Hear that? I’m trying to save your son. That should get me some points, right? Send whatever help you feel like. A secret key to the Underworld, maybe. Another handy vial of the physician’s cure. An instruction manual._

_Really, anything you want to send would be great, O Mighty Zeus._

Leo chuckled to himself. _Hell, send some paperclips and a pack of gum. I’ll MacGyver your son out of Hades if I have to. I’m Leo freaking Valdez. It’s what I do._

His smile faded as he took another look at Jason’s empty bed. He walked back out the door quickly, keeping his eyes forward. One step at a time.

Luckily, Leo knew what the next step had to be.

It was around lunch time, so the camp was filling with demi-gods meandering towards the tables. Leo hung around the edge, trying not to draw attention to himself. He barely managed to stop himself from diving behind a tree to hide from the Hephaestus cabin when they passed by.

He tried to get close enough to see the Apollo group. He noticed Will right away. He scanned the surrounding crowd, but he couldn’t find—

A voice suddenly came from behind him. “Looking for someone?”

Leo jumped. He turned to see Nico’s stoic face in the shadows near him.

“Nico! Holy Hephaestus, dude, we should put a bell on you,” Leo said, his heart still pounding from being startled. “But, hey! I was actually—”

“I know why you’re here,” Nico interrupted grimly. He glanced back to the Apollo group, a look of longing in his eyes. “We can’t talk out in the open. Follow me.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leo and Nico might be tied for my favorite character.   
> Anyway, I hope you're enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Please comment, let me know what you think.

Nico’s cabin wasn’t quite what Leo expected. Leo had basically envisioned a repurposed crypt, with cold stone walls and no windows. Maybe some bats and skeletons, with only candles for lighting. The actual Hades cabin was a lot less ominous. It was dark, sure, with morbid and macabre decorations lining the outside. But inside, it looked like it had been recently redecorated.

It was simple, mostly dark blue and shades of gray. The curtains were drawn, as though Nico wanted to make sure everyone only saw the red and black façade, not the more neutral interior. Leo supposed Nico didn’t let people in here much. That didn’t really put him at ease. He was already unnerved enough by Nico’s quiet, heavy presence.

Leo looked around the room, trying to keep moving and avoid looking directly at Nico. “It’s… nice…” he tried slowly.

Nico shot him a glare. “Spare me the niceties. We don’t have the time.” He sat at the chair next to his desk, looking at Leo expectantly.

Leo busied himself by looking at the stack of books Nico had. They appeared to be all different kinds of mythology books. Leo wondered if that was part of Nico preparing for the class he was expected to teach.

“So… teaching, huh? History, but I guess in the mortal world, it would be called mythology, right? Do you ever think about just making stuff up and seeing if anyone notices?” Leo said, rambling. “You totally could. Like, just telling the students that because of recent developments, Hera has gotten demoted from goddess of marriage and Queen of Olympus to goddess of lying and being a nuisance? Or Hercules, the famous demi-god, who has been using his gifted immortality to complain about his Disney fame on Twitter. Or how the real reason Apollo has been exiled from Olympus is for his crimes against humanity, the never-ending Kidz Bop albums.”

Nico didn’t say anything, just waited. Leo felt a lump in his throat. He’d been hoping that Nico wouldn’t make him say it.

He took a deep breath. It didn’t calm him down. “So anyway… You said you know why I’m here.” Leo leaned against the wall and looked at the floor.

“I’d like the confirmation,” Nico replied, his voice tight. Leo winced.

“Jason’s dead,” he said quietly. “But you already knew that. Didn’t you?”

Nico fixed his gaze on the wall. He looked at his bulletin board, where it seemed he’d started pinning up mementos, like train tickets, photos, and scraps of notes. Leo thought it made Nico seem more human. “I felt it,” Nico admitted quietly. “When it happened.”

“You didn’t… You didn’t tell anyone?” Leo phrased it like a question, but he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

Nico shook his head. “Not even Will.” He sighed, leaning back. “It felt pretty final, but—” Nico fixed a dark glare on Leo. “I have been wrong about someone’s death before.”

Leo chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, you weren’t _technically_ wrong. I did die, but hey, I got better. Miracles of modern science and ancient magic and all that.” He tried to keep his tone light, but he could hear some bitterness seep in.

“And now you think you can cheat death again,” Nico said simply.

Leo turned to look at Nico. Something in his neutral expression made Leo feel defensive. “What, you wanna lecture me on the permanence of death? Tell me it’s a natural part of life, that it was Jason’s _time?”_ Leo tried not to snap, but he could feel the anger bubbling. It _wasn’t_ Jason’s time.

Nico studied Leo’s face for a moment, his dark eyes narrowed. “Do _not_ presume to know what I’m feeling,” he said coldly. “Jason’s death hurts me, too.”

Leo broke eye contact. He immediately felt a little ashamed. Honestly, he hadn’t really thought about it. He remembered that Jason and Nico had always had this strange bond that he didn’t quite understand. Like something had happened that was only ever between the two of them.

“I’m sorry,” Leo said finally.

Nico’s eyes glittered angrily. “I don’t think it was Jason’s time any more than you do.” His tone was bitter. “And you clearly want my help as a child of Hades. But do you even have a plan? You’re out of _deus ex machinas_. You’ve used up your miracle. You no longer have the physician’s cure. This is not like repairing a machine, Leo.”

Leo was hit with the memory of something Calypso had said to him when they were in Indianapolis with Apollo.

_Leo, you can’t reduce everything to a program. You’re trying to fix it. As if every problem is a machine._

He straightened his spine. _You think I can’t fix this? I’ve heard that before. Watch me._

He grinned at Nico. “Who needs a plan?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Now that’s a reassuring sentiment.”

“We can figure it out,” Leo replied. “You know, wing it. Make it up as we go. It’s what I do best.”

“We?” Nico repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Leo’s ears got hot. He hoped they weren’t on fire. He tried to smile, cover himself in a layer of confidence. “Well, yeah. As you said, you’re a child of Hades. Can’t very well go to the Underworld without the son of the Overlord of Death with me, right?”

“The Overlord of Death,” Nico said flatly.

“Lord of the Ghosts. Tall, Dark, & Death. Master of Emos and Goths. Leader of the Black Parade. Zombie King?”

“Stop it.”

Leo laughed. “The point is, I could use your help.”

Nico shot him a look. “You could also phrase it like a question.”

Leo gave a little bow, grinning. “Please, O King of Shadows, will you accompany me on this most valiant of Death Quests?”

“It’s not a quest if there’s no prophecy,” Nico replied.

Leo threw his hands up in exaggerated exasperation. “Come _on_! Screw the semantics! The God of Prophecy is out of commission!” Leo snapped his fingers. “Besides, I had a goddess say something cryptic and ominous in a dream, which is basically the same thing as a prophecy, right? Close enough.”

Nico leaned forward in interest. “And what was this cryptic thing?”

Leo let his hopes rise just a little. He explained his dream, what Persephone said. He even mentioned the fact that it was preceded by a vision of Jason’s death, though he couldn’t bring himself to go into any detail. The entire time, Nico’s expression was unreadable.

After Leo finished, there were a few long moments of silence.

“The shadow’s daughter,” Nico mused.

“Yeah, like I said, cryptic,” Leo replied.

“Persephone seems pretty certain of your failure,” Nico said.

Leo shrugged. “People underestimate me.” He threw in a cocky smile for good measure.

“She may be right about your fatal flaw,” Nico said dryly.

Leo raised an eyebrow. “And what would your fatal flaw be? Too much angst?”

Nico smiled, which was startling. Leo was always surprised that Nico was capable of it. “My sister once told me that the children of Hades hold grudges. Similar to you, I suppose. We don’t know when to let things go.”

“Your sister…” Leo tried to remember the name. “Bianca?”

Nico nodded. His smile dimmed, and his eyes got cloudy, like he was lost in memories. “I was going to bring _her_ back,” he said. “I wanted to give her a second chance.”

“And instead, you brought Hazel back,” Leo said. He wondered, distantly, if she already knew. About Jason. If Apollo and Meg had reached them yet.

“Yes,” Nico said slowly. “And I don’t regret it. I’d do it again.” He hesitated. “But those were… Unique times. The Doors of Death were open and chained. Hazel slipping through the cracks was the least of everyone’s concerns. If anything, it helped balance out all the bad people and monsters returning. But this… This would be different. As Persephone told you, a fruitless quest. Essentially impossible.”

Leo’s hands ignited. “Listen, Nico of the Dead, if you don’t want to help, fine, but I’m a little short on time here—”

Nico fixed Leo with a harsh glare. “Did I say I wasn’t coming?”

The fire fizzled out as quickly as it had started. Leo blinked. “You’ll… You’ll help?”

Nico sat up straighter, and Leo noticed the stubborn glint in his eyes. “It’s for Jason,” he said simply.

Leo nodded. Somehow, that was all Nico needed to say. He understood.

There was no shortage of people who would go to the ends of the earth for Jason Grace.

Nico leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Listen, if we’re doing this, we have to leave soon. Tonight at the _latest._ Now would be better.”

“But where do we go first? Los Angeles? To the gates of the Underworld?” Leo asked.

Nico shook his head. “Too risky.” He looked thoughtful. “Besides, we need to start with your shadow’s daughter. You really have no idea who that could be?”

Leo shrugged. “Beats me.”

Nico furrowed his brow. “The goddess Nyx had children… Maybe…”

Leo’s eyes widened. Something in his mind clicked into place, like gears that had finally found the right fit. Sleep. Death. “Oh. _Oh._ I think I know where we need to start.”

“You figured it out?” Nico replied.

Leo nodded. “Daughter of Nyx. Sister of Hypnos and Thanatos.” He straightened up, simultaneously happy to have a goal and disappointed that he knew what the goal was. “I’m familiar with her.”

“We’d better get started then,” Nico said, getting to his feet.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Adventures of Leo Valdez and Nico di Angelo Continue. Please comment and let me know what you think. I, for one, get sad every time I remember how old these kids are.

Sneaking out in broad daylight was the hardest part. They couldn’t very well just waltz out of camp and expect no one to notice them.

“Can’t you teleport us?” Leo hissed as they peered out the window. “Shadow jump us. Whatever it is you do.”

“It’s the middle of the day, Leo, how many shadows do you see?” Nico snapped back. “Besides, I have to limit how often I shadow travel. We’re going to need that power later.”

“It would be handy now, too,” Leo replied.

Nico glared at him. “I’ll leave you in the Underworld. Don’t test me.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “You could never.”

Nico clenched his jaw, but he didn’t answer.

“I promised Annabeth I’d say bye before I left,” Leo said softly.

Nico glanced toward the Apollo cabin. “If people see us, they’ll ask where we’re going. We can’t tell them.”

“You really can’t even shadow travel us to Bunker 9?” Leo asked.

Nico shook his head. “You’ll be glad I didn’t once we actually need me to.”

Leo sighed. “Maybe we should wait until everyone is done with lunch.”

“No,” Nico said emphatically. “Everyone is distracted. It has to be _now_.”

Nico said it with such certainty, Leo wasn’t about to argue.

“Well, then,” Leo said, straightening up and taking a breath. “Act natural.”

He walked out the front door, slowly and with purpose, like he wasn’t trying to hide anything. He ignored Nico’s hiss of _“What are you doing?”_ and just kept sauntering until Nico caught up and walked next to him.

It almost looked like it was going to work, too. They got a couple of confused glances, probably because they were a bizarre pair walking _away_ from the food, but no one stopped them.

That is, until they got a few feet into the tree line.

“And where are you two going?” Annabeth’s voice said from behind them.

Leo and Nico exchanged a glance. Leo was surprised to see his anxiety mirrored back at him. He barely ever saw Nico’s eyes being expressive.

Leo turned and smiled big. “Nico was just telling me all about the inconsistencies in the mythology books. Fascinating stuff. Do you even know how much stuff they get wrong?”

Annabeth raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. Beside her stood Percy and Will.

“And you needed to go into the woods to have this conversation?” Annabeth prompted.

“It was for the ambiance?” Leo tried.

Nico looked from Annabeth to Percy to Will. His eyes narrowed, settling on Will. “You saw us leaving, and you told _them,_ ” he said, his tone accusatory.

Will seemed unphased by Nico’s glare. “Figured I needed backup,” he said calmly.

“To what?” Nico challenged. “Stop me from going on a walk?”

“Don’t play dumb, Nico,” Will said. “That’s beneath you.”

“So you’re just assuming I’m doing something wrong, is that it?” Nico shot back.

“You _know_ that’s not what it is,” Will replied.

“Don’t you trust me?” Nico asked, an edge in his tone.

Will’s gaze softened. “Of _course_ I trust you,” he replied. “But Nico, I don’t know what’s going on with you. These past few days, you’ve been… I can’t do anything if you won’t _talk_ to me.”

The shadows of the trees seemed to get longer around them, almost curling towards them. Nico stiffened, his eyes darkening. “You want to know what happened? Jason Grace _died._ He died, and I felt it. I felt it when it happened. I felt the _moment_ his life ended.” Nico’s words felt heavy in Leo’s chest. He almost stumbled backwards at the force of the waves of sorrow coming from Nico.

_I had no idea Jason’s death hit him so hard,_ Leo thought to himself. He realized how little he considered Nico’s feelings. Nico always seemed to unapproachable, so cold, that Leo had always been too busy being afraid of him to think of him as a person. But he was, wasn’t he? He was just a kid, too, younger than Leo.

Nico closed his eyes for a moment, taking a breath. “Listen, I’m trying, Will, really. But there’s nothing you can do this time. You can’t help. You don’t know what it’s like, and I can’t explain it to you.”

“Nico, I—” Will started. He took a step forward, reaching out to touch Nico.

Nico flinched away. Leo noticed the plants around him beginning to wilt. “Don’t. Please. Just… Don’t.”

Will pulled his hand back, looking more sad than hurt.

“So where are you going now?” Percy asked, his voice low. “Back to the Labyrinth? Like when Bianca…” He trailed off.

Nico’s glare snapped to Percy. Percy matched it. Leo was impressed that neither one of them broke. The tension in the air was unbearable.

“Don’t you _dare,_ ” Nico said, almost snarling the words out.

“I’m just asking,” Percy replied evenly.

After about three seconds of the tension, Leo couldn’t stand it anymore. “Look, Nico just wanted me to take him to see Reyna,” he interjected softly. He didn’t want to lie, but… “That’s all. I wanted to go talk to Hazel and Frank anyway…”

Leo glanced at Nico, whose eyes were still fixed on Percy. “Nico asked if he could come. We were hoping…” Leo’s words caught in his throat. “We were hoping we might make it in time for the funeral at Camp Jupiter.”

The tension faded. The shadows returned to their normal gray, and the circle of browning grass around Nico’s feet stopped growing. A heavy silence fell over them.

It was Will who first broke it. “You could’ve asked me to come with you,” he said quietly. “I would’ve been there for you.”

Nico shook his head, not looking into Will’s eyes. “Will, I’m sorry. You can’t. You need to let me do this. Alone.”

“But—” Will started.

“I’ll be okay,” Nico said with a weak smile. Leo had never heard him talk so gently before. Not even to Hazel.

Annabeth turned to Leo. “You weren’t going to say goodbye?”

Guilt rose in Leo’s throat. “I’ve said so many goodbyes lately,” he said. It was sort of the truth, anyway. Leo wasn’t sure how many more tearful farewells he could deal with.

“You’re not getting out of this one,” she said. She stepped forward and threw her arms around Leo, hugging him close. It was just as startling as the first time. “I’m glad you’re alive,” she whispered to him.

Leo’s heart cracked open and his eyes stung with tears. _I’m glad you’re alive._ Why was _that_ what got him? The words were so simple, he didn’t think that this would be the thing to break him. But it did, and he hugged Annabeth back, his eyes watering. There was something so reassuring about what she said. _I’m glad you’re alive._ Like maybe it was okay, that he came back.

He didn’t have the words to tell her how much that meant to him.

As she pulled away, Leo saw how bloodshot her eyes were.

Annabeth glanced at Will and Nico. She squeezed Leo’s shoulders. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s give these two a moment. Percy and I will walk with you for a little bit.”

Leo nodded. Nico glanced at him, looking almost apologetic. Leo wasn’t sure what to make of that.

They walked in a heavy silence. Leo wondered what it was like, when they thought he was dead. Was it like this? Did they feel Leo’s absence like they felt Jason’s? Somehow, Leo seriously doubted it. But he clung to Annabeth’s words in his mind. _I’m glad you’re alive._  

They got to the bunker and Annabeth glanced around. “Where’s Festus?” she asked.

Leo gestured. “I left him behind the bunker. Didn’t really want everyone to know I was here.”

“Oh,” Annabeth said. She gave him a long look, her gray eyes serious and knowing. It made Leo feel like she could tell everything about him, just with a glance. “Be careful out there,” she said finally, squeezing his arm lightly.

She glanced at Percy, seeming to come to a silent agreement, before she headed back towards camp, leaving the two of them there.

Leo swallowed the discomfort. He still felt awkward, being alone with Percy. It probably came from the months of hearing stories about The Great Percy Jackson before they’d even met. Leo was still intimidated by the guy.

When Percy turned to look at Leo, he was reminded just how much Percy intimidated him.

Percy’s gaze was steady and even, but the look in his eyes reminded Leo of being at sea, not knowing when the next rough waves were going to hit.

“Leo, do you know what you’re doing?” Percy said, his voice apprehensive. Something in his voice made Leo think that Percy knew exactly what his plans were.

Leo tried to grin. “Never.”

The corner of Percy’s mouth twitched up in a smile. “I’m not going to try to stop you,” he said. “But if you get yourself killed  _again_ , I will personally bring you back and drown you.”

Leo laughed, a little nervously. He couldn’t really tell if Percy was serious. “Don’t you have any sage advice for me?” he asked.

“Sure,” Percy said. “Don’t be an idiot.”

“Oh, come on,” Leo replied with a wry smile. “Advice I can follow.”

Percy sighed. He looked towards the ocean. “In all seriousness? None of us can keep this shit up forever. At a certain point, you have to decide that you’ve done enough for the world. The trick is that _you_ have to be the one to make that decision. No one else will tell you when it’s time. You have to be the one to step back and decide that the world, the gods, the Fates, whatever… They can’t ask for anything more from you.”

“Geez, you should write Hallmark cards,” Leo said.  

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” Percy replied. “Demi-god birthday card: Congrats on making it this far! You’re doomed this year, for sure, though!”

Leo grinned. “Demi-god condolences card: Hey, what did you expect?”

“Demi-god congratulations card: Nice job on completing the quest and saving the world! Your prize is a lifetime of trauma. Sorry, godly insurance doesn’t cover therapy.”

“Demi-god Father’s Day card: Thanks for dragging me into this mess, have a fucking card for your troubles, asshole.”

Percy let out a short laugh. He paused, glancing back towards Leo. “The point is that we’re all going to have to decide when enough is enough for us. Either we get caught in a never-ending cycle of quests and monsters and danger, and eventually, it gets us killed. Or we step back. Let the world solve its own problems for once.”

Leo looked at Percy. “And what have you decided?”

Percy gave a crooked smile. “I’ve decided that I’m going to go to college with my girlfriend.”

“How’s that working for you so far?” Leo asked.

He shrugged. “I’m not going to lie, it can be hard. Seems like the Fates keep trying to drag me back.” He paused, furrowing his brow. “But the gods don’t own me. They never have. They can’t control me. My life isn’t theirs to play with.”

Leo considered Percy’s words, how he looked more at peace than Leo had ever seen him. It was a fair point he was making. But…

“I get what you’re saying. But this time, it’s different. It's not...” Leo paused, taking a breath. He glanced back towards where he’d left Festus. “It’s like there was a mechanical error. Someone installed a part that wasn’t quite the right size or fit. Maybe the machine can still run, but the damage will only get worse the longer you ignore it. The best fix, the easiest fix, is to replace the part with the one you should’ve used to begin with.” Leo paused. “It was a _human_ error. A miscalculation.”

Percy seemed to study Leo’s face. He looked a little sad. “Like I said, Leo, I’m not going to try to stop you. I get it. Sometimes, you have to do the reckless thing, so at least you know that you did everything you could.”

“Like falling into Tartarus?” Leo asked.

Percy smiled a little. “Like falling into Tartarus,” he said.

“I’ll try to avoid _that_ if I can, though,” Leo replied.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t recommend it,” Percy said. “Not the best vacation spot.”

Leo saw Nico coming towards them from the trees, his arms crossed over his chest, looking even more closed off than usual. Leo couldn’t help but wonder what this quest was going to be like. It’s not that he didn’t _like_ Nico—more just that he didn’t know how to talk to him.

He gave Percy an apologetic smile. “Well, we should probably get going. You know how long it can take for demi-gods to get anywhere.”

Percy snorted. “Yeah, good luck.” He glanced at Nico. “Both of you,” he added, his tone softer.

As Percy walked off, Leo and Nico exchanged a look.

“Time to go, then,” Nico said.

Leo nodded. He wanted to make a joke, or a pun, or _something_ , just to lighten the mood. But honestly, he didn’t have it in him.

“To Festus,” he said simply.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm spending more time on this than on schoolwork. Please comment, let me know what you think. I just keep wanting to reread Heroes of Olympus.

As they climbed onto Festus, ready to leave, Leo hesitated. “We just have to make a quick stop in Indianapolis first,” he said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nico replied coldly. “We don’t have the time for that.”

“Hey, I can’t just leave without talking to Calypso,” Leo protested. “Especially not if I might never…” _If I might never come back._

“I was ready to leave without even telling Will and we’re making an entire detour for your girlfriend?” Nico said.

Leo frowned. “I wasn’t stopping you from saying bye to Will,” he replied.

“We can’t stop. She’ll talk you out of it.” Nico tapped his fingers against Festus, clearly agitated. “And then this will have been for nothing. I’ll have lied to my boyfriend for _nothing_.”

“She won’t talk me out of it,” Leo said quietly. “I’m not going to tell her.”

“The longer we wait, the harder it’s going to be,” Nico replied. “Jason can’t… Jason can’t wait forever. We’re already fighting a losing battle here.”

“I already stripped Calypso of her immortality, took her away from the Paradise Island of prisons. And she’s been abandoned enough already.” Leo pulled out some wires, fiddling with it, trying to shape it into something, but his hands shaking a little too much for him to make anything worthwhile. “We won’t stay long, I swear.”

“If she’s smart, she’ll figure out what you’re doing and try to stop you. You’ll have to have the willpower to leave after that.” Nico paused. “Then again, she is dating _you,_ maybe we don’t have to worry about her being smart.”

Leo shot Nico a glare. “Hey, I’m a delight.”

Nico snorted. “Whatever.”

“It won’t take long,” Leo insisted. “You don’t even have to leave Festus.”

“Fine,” Nico replied, his voice tense. Then they just flew in a thick silence, and Leo tried to focus on controlling Festus and fiddling with the wires in his hands. He had to bite his tongue to avoid rambling to fill the silence.

Leo couldn’t help but wish that this quest wasn’t just the two of them. He couldn’t help but feeling like he was the last person Nico would want to go anywhere with.

 

They did both end up having to leave Festus, once they landed down in Indianapolis.

“We’re beginning our descent,” Leo said in his best flight attendant voice. “Please keep your seatbelt on and make sure your trays are in their upright and locked positions.”

Not even a chuckle from Nico. Leo wasn’t sure he’d ever get the hang of trying to interact with him.

Leo chose a spot close enough to the Waystation that they wouldn’t have far to walk, but far enough so as to not draw too much attention to them. Leo tried toying with the idea of what it might take to build and install some kind of cloaking device. He didn’t want to put Festus in suitcase mode—it would take too long for him to come back, and Leo really did want to not stay too long.

He didn’t have time to just whip up a cloaking device. He didn’t even really know if he could. But he couldn’t stop his mind from spiraling into the logistics of that kind of project. A couple of tools fell out of his tool belt as they made a rough landing, like it was encouraging Leo to put off leaving to try and build something new.

Nico practically leaped off Festus when they landed. He let out a heavy breath. “Finally. Solid ground.”

Leo frowned as he got down. He put his hand on Festus’ nose. “Don’t worry, buddy, I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.”

Nico shot Leo an impatient look. “Go on, then. I’ll stay with the dragon.”

“His name is _Festus,”_ Leo replied.

“We don’t have time for this,” Nico said.

Leo tried not to roll his eyes. He started to walk away before freezing in his tracks. “On second thought, Nico, maybe you should come with me,” he said, keeping his voice even.

“What are you talking—” Nico cut off the second he turned.

A small group of what appeared to be smiling Midwesterners were approaching them slowly.

“I take it these aren’t humans,” Nico said, keeping his voice low.

“ _Blemmyae_ ,” Leo muttered. “Creepy chest-face monsters. I hate these guys.”

“I’d rather not fight them,” Nico said. Leo noticed he was reaching for the hilt of his black Stygian sword anyway. “We can’t waste our strength here.”

Leo stepped forward, offering a friendly smile. “Good morning, neighbors. Mighty fine day.”

“What are you doing?” Nico asked. Leo waved him off.

“Hello,” replied one of the blemmyae. He was in a construction worker uniform, the top part lumpy from covering up his real face. His creepy metal head was effective enough at imitating real human expression, but it was just off enough to be unsettling. “It is quite a nice day.”

“We’d like some directions, please,” Leo said. “It would be very polite of you all to help.”

“Of course,” the blemmyae said. “Politeness is very important.”

“We need to find the closest gas station,” Leo said. “You’re welcome to start trying to kill us after you show us where it is.”

“We can show you that courtesy,” he replied. He gestured towards another street. “The nearest gas station is two blocks that way. Now, if you don’t mind terribly—”

“Oh, I’m sorry, you misunderstood,” Leo said shaking his head. “Would you mind leading us to the gas station? It would be very kind and polite, _and_ you could surround us. It would be very convenient for you, really.”

A couple of the blemmyae exchanged glances. “That sounds reasonable,” the construction worker said. He stepped to the side and gestured. “After you, please.”

“Oh, no, please, after you,” Leo insisted.

“How courteous,” one blemmyae murmured to another.

“Oh, yes, thank you,” the construction worker said, and the blemmyae began to walk in the direction of the gas station.

Leo took a few slow steps backwards. “Now run,” he whispered to Nico, spinning around and taking off towards the Waystation.

He spared a glance back to make sure that Nico was following him. He didn’t stop to check and see when the blemmyae would realize that the demi-gods they’d found weren’t following them.

He turned down an alley, trying to take a shortcut, and he and Nico ran straight into another group of blemmyae.

“Shit,” Nico said, a little out of breath as they both skidded to a stop.

“It’s fine, I got this,” Leo panted. He flashed a smile. “Nice day out,” he said to the blemmyae.

One of them, a woman in a police uniform, stared at him for a moment. “I recognize you,” she said, taking a step towards them.

Leo hadn’t been prepared for that. “Okay, maybe I don’t got this,” he mumbled to Nico, glancing back towards where they came from. The other blemmyae weren’t far away, now ambling towards them, clearly having realized that they had run off. Which had _not_ been very polite of them. The blemmyae looked disgruntled.  

“Get ready,” Nico said.

“What?” Leo replied, but it was too late to ask. Nico had already grabbed him and pulled him into the shadows.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like writing Leo. He's such a great character. Please comment, let me know what you think.

Leo was immediately surrounded with what felt like thick, black ink. He couldn’t really move but it felt like they were going a hundred miles an hour. He couldn’t see anything. He wasn’t sure if his eyes were closed or not.

The darkness swirled around him, feeling like it was choking him. Leo could hear his own pulse. It was so cold, and so dark, and Leo wanted it to be over. He might’ve screamed if he could have.

It may have only been a few seconds, but it felt much longer. Leo never thought he was afraid of the dark, but…

Luckily, they reappeared, right outside of the Waystation.

Leo was hit with a wave of nausea and stumbled a bit, trying not to throw up. He managed to steady himself just in time to catch Nico, who had collapsed. He just barely stopped Nico from crumbling to the ground.

“Uh, Nico?” Leo said, feeling particularly weird about having to hold him up. He remembered Nico didn’t like being touched.

But Nico appeared to be out cold. Leo didn’t have a choice. He had to painstakingly drag him inside. At least Nico wasn’t all that big. Leo couldn’t imagine having to drag Percy around like this. Or, gods forbid, Frank.

He got inside and plopped Nico down onto the nearest couch in the main room. He leaned against the wall, breathing hard.

“Leo!” a voice called.

Leo looked up and saw Jo, smiling at him. She walked over and Leo was reminded of just how much he’d been looking forward to living here. It was enough to almost make him break down, thinking about all of the plans he had here.

“What’s up,” he said, smiling, but his voice was weak. He was still out of breath.

Jo looked down at Nico, sprawled out on the couch. “And who’s this?”

“This is Nico,” he replied. He didn’t think to elaborate.

“Right,” Jo said slowly. “Is he okay?”

Leo looked down at Nico. “I, uh. I think so.” He realized he had no idea. 

“Then I guess we can just… Let him sleep,” Jo said uncertainly. “We should get him some nectar and ambrosia.” She looked back at Leo, beaming. “In the meantime, come in, we’ve all missed you.”

She led him up to the dining room area. Leo felt an ache in his chest, a barely familiar kind of bittersweet feeling. He recognized it as homesickness.

Emmie, Georgie, and Lit were gathered around the table, talking and laughing. Leo scanned the room. He didn’t see Calypso.

“Look who’s here!” Jo announced.

Emmie looked up and gasped. She got up and rushed over, crushing Leo in a tight hug. “Leo! Welcome back!”

Leo laughed awkwardly. “Thanks,” he said, feeling a little sheepish.

“He brought a friend, who is currently passed out in the living room,” Jo said, gesturing back.

“We ran into some blemmyae on the way here,” Leo said. “Nico… tired himself out.” Leo glanced back towards where he’d left Nico. He felt kind of bad now for trying to get him to shadow travel back at camp. If this happened every time, no wonder Nico wanted to avoid it.

“Ah, yes, the blemmyae,” Emmie said with a sigh. “They’re still quite a nuisance.” She went and grabbed a handful of things from a lower cupboard. “I’ll go tend to your friend.”

Jo shot Leo a coy smile. “I expect you want to see Cal,” she said. “She’s in her room. That way.”

“Yeah, I think she’ll want to punch me for leaving. Shouldn’t keep her waiting.” Leo did a little salute and ducked out of the room.

Calypso’s door was open. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, hunched over a textbook of some kind. Leo felt a pang of emotion as he remembered their plan, to be normal teenagers, to go to school. It was such a nice daydream while it lasted.

He pushed the feeling down quickly. No time for that.

He leaned in the doorway and plastered on a grin. “Hey, Sunshine,” he said as casually as possible.  

She snapped her head up, eyes wide. She was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, and her hair was tied back in a loose bun, just starting to fall into her face. No matter how many times he saw her, Leo never stopped being awestruck by how beautiful she was.

“Leo!” she said, jumping to her feet. She threw her arms around Leo’s shoulders, muttering a fast-spoken string of Ancient Greek curse words. “You’re _late_ again.”

Leo wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close.

She pulled back just enough to press her lips against Leo’s. Leo kissed her back, trying to commit every detail of the moment to memory.

Calypso pulled away, keeping a hand against Leo’s chest. “You’re back,” she said. She sounded so relieved.

Leo smiled, but it pained him. “I told you I would be.” His voice cracked.

Calypso narrowed her eyes. “Oh, gods, Leonidas. What now?”

Leo sighed, not quite able to meet her gaze. “There’s just… There’s one last thing I have to do.”

“You have _got_ to be kidding me,” Calypso said, pulling her hand away fast and crossing her arms. “We’re supposed to be done. And you’re saying this _now?_ When you just got back?”

“I know, Cal, I’m sorry,” Leo said, wincing a little at her tone. “You’re just going to have to trust me when I say this is something I need to do.”

Calypso glared at him. “I should’ve known,” she said. “I should’ve known you’d be _just_ like all the others.”

Leo frowned. “Hey, that’s not fair.”

But Calypso wasn’t listening. “It’s _always_ like this—oh, yes, of course, it’s something you _need_ to do, you are a hero, aren’t you?” She stepped away from him, glaring angrily at the floor. “Stupid. I never should’ve gotten my hopes up. Nothing has changed. You are no different from any of them. You were just another part of my curse. It'll never end.”

“Cal, that is _not_ fair,” Leo repeated emphatically.

“It just took you longer than everyone else,” she continued, her voice getting more and more bitter. “You couldn’t just leave on the raft like everyone else. You had to come back. You _had_ to make it harder. You made me think that… That…”

“That’s not what this is,” Leo argued, feeling his hands start to smoke. He didn’t want to be compared to all the guys who had abandoned Calypso on that island. He came _back._ He’d kept his promise. It was different with him.

“We were supposed to be _normal_ now.” Calypso quickly brushed her hand against her cheek. “As normal as we could ever hope to be, anyway.”

They were silent for a few moments. Leo couldn’t stand to see Calypso cry.

“It’s Jason,” Leo said softly. “He’s dead.”

Calypso froze. “What?”

“I went to tell Percy and Annabeth at Camp Half-Blood,” he said. “That’s why I’m a couple days late.”

“Oh, Leo,” Calypso said, her voice quiet. She moved closer to him again, taking one of his hands in hers. “I’m so sorry.”

Leo offered a crooked smile. “Hey,” he said. “I’m okay.”

Calypso shook her head. “Idiot,” she said affectionately, wrapping her arms around Leo again.

Leo relaxed into her arms, putting his head on her shoulder. He hadn’t realized how tired he was. He felt so drained. All of this was taking so much out of him.

He could feel that old urge inside of him. His old Plan B. Run away. Run away, keep running, the grief can’t catch up if you don’t give it the time. If you kept running, if you ran fast enough, you wouldn’t have to think about all the times everything went wrong. Everything you lost.

“You look exhausted. Come lie down,” Calypso said gently. She guided him to her bed and sat cross-legged again, letting him lie down with his head in her lap.

He didn’t say anything, and she didn’t ask. She stroked his hair until he drifted off to sleep.

Leo dreamed of Jason’s death again.

The spear. The water. Apollo and Piper. Leo just watched helplessly.

_Remember._

Jason’s wide blue eyes, Jason falling to the ground. It didn’t hurt any less this time.

Leo choked out a sob, covering his mouth with his hands. Did he really have to see this _again_?   

The dream felt like it was going to last forever.

When he finally woke up, he gasped, sitting up quickly. It felt like he’d been drowning.

“Hey, you okay?” Calypso said. “Bad dream?”

Leo was disoriented for a moment. Unsure of where he was. He glanced back at Calypso and shook his head. “Nah, it wasn’t so bad. Just one of those recurring nightmares about being in a final for a class I didn’t know I was taking,” he said with a smile.

“I’m not really familiar with those,” Calypso replied.

Leo paused. “No, I guess you wouldn’t be, huh? Well, no worries, I’m sure they’ll start any day.” He looked around. Calypso hadn’t put anything up on her walls. “How long was I out?”

“Not all that long,” she said. “Just a few hours.”

Leo ran a hand over his hair. “Man, Nico’s going to kill me.”

“Nico?” Calypso raised an eyebrow. “As in the son of Hades? That Nico?”

“Yeah, the very same,” Leo replied.

“Is this related to that _thing_ you need to do?” she asked, crossing her arms.

Leo glanced at her uneasily. “Yeah, I was… I have to take Nico to Camp Jupiter. After the news… He wanted to go see Reyna. They spent a lot of time together last year, and they were both friends with...” He smiled, swallowing the guilt of lying to her. “See? Not so bad, right? I’ll be okay.”

Calypso shot him a look. “You better be okay,” she muttered. “I’m going to be furious if you don’t come back.”

“You don’t have to worry,” Leo said. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Everything will be fine.”

She looked like she wanted to say something. Leo didn’t want her to notice that he hadn’t promised he’d come back this time. He couldn’t tell her the truth, but he wasn’t going to promise something to her if he wasn’t sure he could follow through.

Calypso had heard enough false promises to last an immortal lifetime, and Leo wasn’t going to be a part of it.

“Oh, hey,” he said quickly. “I have something for you.”

“Oh?” she replied.

He shifted so that he could get to the main pocket of his tool belt and pulled out what he’d made on the trip over. It was a little bent, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

She held it carefully, looking confused. It was a small mechanical butterfly, with silver wire wings.

“It doesn’t fly,” he said. “I didn’t have the time for that.”

“Thank you,” Calypso said slowly. “What’s it for?”

“It’s not _for_ anything,” Leo replied. “It’s just something I made.”

Calypso studied the little butterfly. She seemed to be avoiding looking at him. “I’m sorry. For saying you were like all the others.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” Leo said, shrugging. “I know I’m _much_ better than them.”

He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes.

“I mean, I’m definitely _hotter_ than them,” he added, sending a flame across his fingertips for effect.

“Oh, shut up, Leo,” Calypso muttered, but she was smiling.

Leo tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. “You know you think I’m funny.”

“I refuse to say that,” Calypso replied.

Leo shrugged. “Oh, you don’t have to. It’s obvious.”

“You’re so annoying,” she said, shaking her head. She leaned forward and kissed Leo.

Leo grinned. “I try.”

Calypso looked down at the floor. “So when do you have to leave?” she asked quietly.

He sighed, looking towards the door. “Whenever Nico is awake.”

“We should go check on him, shouldn’t we?” Calypso said.

Leo pulled himself to his feet. “Yeah.” He took a deep breath. "Time to face it." 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School is getting busy, so I'm doing this instead. Please comment, let me know what you think.

Nico was groggy, but coherent enough. He was sitting at the table in the main room, hunched forward with his head resting on his arms. He sat up when Leo came in the room.

“You good, man?” Leo asked.

Nico nodded. “I’ve had all the rest and nectar and ambrosia I can. We need to get moving.”

Emmie smiled at them from across the table. “Are you sure you two can’t stay longer? Maybe for dinner?”

“Dinner,” Leo said dreamily. “Food.”

“It’s time sensitive,” Nico replied, getting to his feet and giving Leo a sidelong irritated look. “Thank you. For the help.”

“Of course,” Jo said. “Any friend of Leo is a friend of ours.”

Leo wasn’t so sure how much Nico would appreciate being called his friend, but Nico didn’t react at all to it. It was seriously impossible to read that guy.

They said their goodbyes inside, Jo hugging Leo and saying she had ideas about what kind of work they could do when Leo got back. Leo tried to feign excitement, but he felt a little sick.

Calypso walked him and Nico to the door. Nico hovered near the street when they got outside, scanning the roads around the Waystation.

“Stay safe,” Calypso said, still looking less than pleased that Leo was leaving.

Leo smiled. “I’ll be fine,” he said. He figured “fine” was a debatable word.

Calypso hugged him tightly, cursing under her breath about how he _better_ be fine. She kissed him goodbye, squeezing his hand.

Leo’s heart hurt as he and Nico left. They kept quiet as they walked, and Leo glanced at Nico’s face.

He looked a little pale. Well, more so than usual anyway.

Leo couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Is it always like that?” 

“What?”

“Shadow travel.”

Nico didn’t say anything. Leo noticed him twisting his silver skull ring on his finger. He was silent for long enough that Leo was sure he just wasn’t going to answer. They managed to sneak through the alleys and get to Festus without much trouble. They only had to dodge a couple blemmyae on the way.

By the time they got to Festus, who was curled up right where they left him, the quiet was going to make Leo crazy. He figured that Nico could probably go days without talking, but Leo always felt like he had to fill silences.

Luckily, there was Festus.

“Hey, boy!” Leo greeted cheerfully. “Thanks for waiting.”

Festus made some happy creaking noises. Leo tapped on him in Morse code.

They flew away from Indianapolis, and Leo kept glancing back as he watched the Waystation disappear into the distance. The place that could’ve been his home. Finally, after all this time, a stable, comfortable life, with adults who cared about him. Such a nice dream. Leo didn't want to let go of it. 

There was still a chance that Leo would survive this mission, but he wasn’t expecting to. As Nico had said, he’d used up his miracle already.

“The last time, I almost died,” Nico said suddenly.

“What?” Leo replied.

“Shadow traveling,” Nico said. He twisted his ring, not looking at Leo. “I’m only telling you this because you should know, just in case. It's just the two of us here. Last year, when I was helping get the statue back to Camp Half-Blood… That amount of shadow travel I had to do nearly killed me.”

“Whoa,” Leo said, frowning. “How does that work?”

“Shadow traveling that often, and that far, it had… an impact on my presence in the physical world.” Nico looked down at the land below them. “I started fading. Like my hand wouldn’t be solid for a few moments. It kept getting worse. It was becoming clear that if I kept it up much longer, I’d disappear.”

“Disappear? Just like that?” Leo repeated. “Where would you go?”

“I don’t really know,” Nico admitted. “Suffice it to say, I can’t use the power much anymore. I still haven’t fully recovered from last year.”

Leo’s mind started turning, sifting through the information. “What if you had some kind of tether to the real world? Like, while you were shadow traveling? If you could figure out a way to keep yourself from fading, even a little bit… There could be a way to…”

“Are you… Are you trying to fix this?” Nico sounded confused, maybe even a little amused at the idea.

“Well, there has to be a way to make it safer, right? Using powers is always draining, but this side effect is different than that. Like I’ve never almost turned into fire or anything. Percy doesn’t just _become_ water. If we could figure out some way to fully separate traveling _through_ the shadows and becoming them…” Leo trailed off, tapping his fingers.

“It’s magic, Leo,” Nico replied. “Not science. You can’t add oil and a gear or something and call it a day. It doesn’t work like that.”

“Magic is a kind of science,” Leo replied, a little absently. “You just need to figure out how it works, the mechanics behind it. And then you can start tinkering with it.” He tapped at the Archimedes sphere on Festus and rummaged in his tool belt pocket with his other hand.

“You can’t modify magic,” Nico said.

“You can modify anything,” Leo replied. “If you just have the right tools.”

“I was only telling you so that you could be prepared. So that you’d know the risks.” Nico’s voice developed an edge.

Leo stopped fiddling with the sphere and took his hand out of his pocket. Calypso’s voice came back to him— _Leo, you can’t reduce everything to a program. You’re trying to fix it. As if every problem is a machine._

They flew in silence for a long while. Leo tried in vain to not think about possible solutions for Nico. He got what Calypso had been saying, honestly, he did, but… If he _could_ fix something, why shouldn’t he try? It’s not that he was treating every problem like it was a machine. He didn’t think, anyway.

But problems had solutions. And Leo didn’t see why you should dwell on the issue rather than search for the solution. What was the point of fixating on a problem if you weren’t going to try to _do_ something about it?

_They don’t need gadgets or jokes or fixes. Try listening._ That’s what Calypso had said.

The thing was, gadgets and jokes and fixes, that was what Leo did. How was he supposed to _listen_ and not try to help? Why would someone tell him about a problem that they didn’t want fixed anyway?

“So how does shadow travel work, exactly?” Leo asked. He couldn’t manage to stop himself.

“I’m not asking for your help here,” Nico replied, his voice cold and sharp.

“Geez, okay,” Leo replied.

They rode in silence for a while. Leo was feeling agitated, unable to quiet his mind. He pulled out some materials and tools, hunched over the Archimedes sphere. He couldn’t sit still, especially not with Prince of Darkness back there glowering at him.

Leo got caught up with calculations in his mind, engrossed in his new project. He managed to find an old scrap of Celestial bronze deep in his tool belt pockets, along with a broken compass, and he figured that he didn’t need much more than that.

He barely noticed when Festus began clicking.

“Uh, Leo?” Nico said slowly.

Leo snapped out of his work, shoving the spare parts back into the tool belt.

“What’s going on?” Leo said.

“Is the dragon supposed to be making those noises?” Nico asked.

“ _Festus,”_ Leo corrected. He frowned, listening to the strained clicking noises. He pressed a hand to Festus’s neck and swore under his breath. “And no, he’s not.”

Nico looked down at the ground far beneath them, his face a little green. “What now then?” he said slowly.

Leo tapped at the Archimedes sphere. “Okay, seems like he’s overheating,” he reported, relieved. “We just have to land and take a break.” Leo leaned forward, lowering his voice. “Festus, take us down slowly, yeah? We could all use some rest.”

“Do we really have time for that?” Nico said.

Leo shot him a look over his shoulder. “Look, it’s better if we stop here and rest than try to keep going and risk things getting worse.”

Nico didn’t say anything, just looked back towards where they were headed, his gaze a little desperate.

“Besides,” Leo continued. “I’m starving.”

As if on cue, Nico’s stomach growled.

Leo grinned. “That settles it.”

He guided Festus’ descent towards the ground. They ended up landing outside of the Denver airport, by the large, threatening blue horse statue with the red eyes that seemed to glow.

The cars drove by on the highway, no one even glancing at them. Leo wondered what they all saw, if anything. He figured the Mist probably didn’t have to work too hard, since they were probably all just avoiding looking at the giant statue. It was unsettling. 

“So do you like tacos?” Leo asked, conjuring fire from his palm.

“Tacos?” Nico replied.

“I make _great_ tacos,” Leo said.

Nico’s stomach growled again. “I could go for tacos,” he said. Leo thought he looked younger than ever, sitting on the ground in his oversized jacket.

“At your service,” Leo said with a flourish, beginning to cook.

They ate more or less in silence. Leo tried to make conversation, but he would just end up rambling. Nico didn’t want to talk to him. That much was clear. Leo’s mind kept drifting back to when he was on _Argo II_ with the seven and he always felt out of place.

Nico went to sleep immediately after eating, turning away from Leo very deliberately. Leo tried not to feel to offended by it. He knew Nico didn’t like him, but honestly, he didn’t have to be so _obvious_ about it.

Leo leaned against Festus, letting the sound of the mechanical creaking and the warmth of engine and moving gears calm him. He was beginning to drift to sleep when he saw the ghostly swirl of wind in front of him.

The shape of a horse formed, not quite solid. The horse snorted, lowering his head towards Leo. Leo recognized him immediately.

“Tempest,” he said softly.

The horse whinnied like he was responding. Jason’s friend, the vestus. The storm spirit.

“I’m so sorry,” Leo said, not sure what else he could say. “I’m trying, I promise.”

Tempest didn’t move for a few moments, just keeping his gaze locked on Leo. He stomped his front hoof, a crackle of electricity drifting across his flank. Then, as quickly as he had appeared, Tempest was gone, a strong gust of wind dissipating him into the distance.

Leo was left looking at the Denver airport horse statue, wondering if he’d imagined it.

He just hoped that Tempest had been wishing them good luck.

Eventually, Leo drifted off into a mercifully dreamless sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have three papers due soon. And yet.  
> Please comment, let me know what you think.

 When Leo woke up the next morning, dawn was just beginning to break. He could see the first rays of sunlight coming over the horizon.

“Nico,” he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

Nico was whimpering in his sleep and Leo straightened up immediately, feeling more awake. Nico was curling into himself, his mouth twitching like he was trying to talk. He whimpered again, bringing his hands up to his ears.

Leo started to panic a little bit. Clearly, Nico was having a nightmare. A bad one. He wanted to wake him up, but he wasn’t sure how. Or if it would be safe.

He reached out tentatively, considering touching Nico’s shoulder before thinking better of it. He didn't want to make anything worse. 

“Nico,” Leo said again, a little louder.

Nico just rolled over in his sleep, and Leo noticed the tears that were stuck in his eyelashes. He really felt like he shouldn't be seeing this. Nico was so secretive, and Leo felt intrusive just being there. Then Nico started shaking a little, murmuring words Leo couldn’t understand. It sounded like it might’ve been Italian.

“Nico!” he tried again.

Nico jumped up, his eyes flying open. He was panting a little. There were a few beats of silence before Nico seemed to gather himself, wiping his eyes quickly like he was embarrassed.

“Are you—” Leo started.

“We should get moving,” Nico interrupted, getting to his feet immediately.

“Yeah, but—”

“Now. We can’t waste more time.”

“But do you need—”

“I said _n_ _ow.”_

Leo put his hands up in surrender, getting to his feet. “Okay, okay. Got it.” 

Nico was already climbing onto Festus.

Leo tried not to think about what Nico’s nightmare could’ve been about. The list was pretty long. All demi-gods had prophetic dreams sometimes, which could always be terrifying, and enough of them had plenty of past trauma for regular nightmares to work with. But Nico had been to Tartarus. Who knew what could’ve been haunting him? Leo couldn't begin to imagine.

As they took off, Leo managed to keep quiet. It didn't seem like a good time to try and lighten the mood. 

The flight wasn’t very long. They didn’t have particularly far to go. They didn’t talk for the entirety of the ride, but for once, Leo hadn’t really wanted to fill the silence anyway.

When they got to Utah, Leo landed Festus, avoiding getting near any crowds.

He jumped down, taking a deep breath. Nico followed closely.

“Persephone said if I remembered where I’d been,” Leo said, looking around. “So it’s gotta be here. She’s gotta be here.”

The lake glittered in the lowering sun in front of them. The island looked the same as it had before. Leo hoped they didn't run into Narcissus. He'd gotten enough of that guy the last time around. 

Nico looked confused until his eyes locked on something on the beach and he glowered. “There,” he said, his voice low. “She’s there.”

Leo glanced at him. “Who does she look like to you?” he asked.

Nico shot him an irritated look. He didn’t answer. Instead, he began to march forward. He walked off so fast, Leo had to jog for a moment to keep up with him.

Leo’s Aunt Rosa looked over at them from where she stood on the beach. He knew it wasn’t really her, but Leo’s heart still began to pound. Seeing her face brought visceral anger. Any time Leo got stuck with abusive foster parents, or any time he had to run away, any time he got kicked out, any time he had to sleep on the street… It all traced back to Aunt Rosa making sure that no one in their family would offer him a place to stay.

Leo thought about that sad, scared eight-year-old kid, and he couldn’t stand it. What kid deserves that? He'd just lost his mother. His family should've been there for him. 

“Leo Valdez,” she said. “You’ve returned.”

“You know why we’re here,” Nico said flatly. “Don’t you?”

“ _True success requires sacrifice,_ ” Nemesis said. She didn’t look at Nico. “Is that not what I told you when you were here last, Leo?”

“Yeah, yeah, and you read some weird fortune cookies, and told me I’m the seventh wheel and that your help always comes at a price,” Leo replied, waving a hand dismissively. “I was there, I remember just fine.”

“Very good,” she said. She smiled, but Leo thought it looked more like a sneer. “Although, of course, _everything_ comes at a price. But you knew that. Didn’t you?”

Leo felt his palms get hot. “I didn’t know what it would cost.”

“And now here you are. You must know that it’s too late,” Nemesis continued. “Balance has already been restored.”

Leo flexed his fingers, trying to keep them from smoking. “Isn’t it ever going to be over?” he asked, his teeth gritted. “I mean, I asked you for _one_ simple code, and I’m still paying the price. Don’t you think that’s a little steep?”

Nemesis looked thoughtful for a moment. “There is another name I am known by. Were you aware?”

Leo hesitated, confused. “Uh…” He wished the gods would just say what they meant, in short, simple sentences. So that he could minimize the time he had to interact with them. 

“Adrestia,” Nico said. “It means _she who cannot be escaped_.”

Nemesis glanced at Nico. “Very good, child of Hades,” she said, though her voice was tight. She turned back to Leo quickly. “Balance, revenge, retribution… These concepts are inescapable. Whether you personally are still paying the price for _my_ help, Leo Valdez, is truly inconsequential.”

Leo frowned. “ _Inconsequential?_ But—"

She raised a hand to stop him. “The fact is that because of our little agreement, you have begun to see the way the universe restores balance when it is disrupted. You will always be able to see the unintended consequences of your actions. The ripple effect.” She smiled, but her eyes glittered with disdain. It was an expression Leo had seen on his Aunt Rosa many times before. “And you, Leo, keep disrupting the balance.”

“Well, here I am,” Leo said, putting his arms out. “I can restore balance _now.”_

She shook her head. It almost looked like she pitied Leo. “You do not get to make these decisions.” 

“But it isn’t fair,” Leo protested. “It’s my fault. I was supposed to die, not Jason. If I could just take his place—”

“Fair?” Nemesis repeated with a short laugh. “You cheated death, and you want to speak of what is fair?”

Leo clenched his jaw. “Jason shouldn’t have to pay for what I did.”

“And I suppose you think that you can make things right?” Nemesis said, a small smirk on her face, like she found this whole ordeal amusing.

“I can take his place,” Leo insisted. “The way it was supposed to be. I _can_ make it right.”

“Humans,” Nemesis said, her voice full of scorn. “Your lives are so small. You truly can’t comprehend things larger than yourselves.”

Leo scoffed. “Lady, it was humans who saved _your_ asses last year.”

“You don’t know what it means to make things right,” Nemesis continued, sneering. “You couldn’t accept your fate then, and you can’t accept your friend’s fate now. Face it, Leo, you must learn to pay the price of being a hero.”

“The price of being a hero,” Leo repeated. A dark anger festered in his chest. The price of being a hero? None of them _asked_ for this. None of them wanted it. They shouldn’t have to pay for a role they had no control over.

Nemesis waved a hand dismissively. “Run along, kid. I don’t have time to walk you through how to handle failure.”

“But—” Leo started.

“Stop it,” Nico interrupted sharply. He glanced back at Nemesis, his eyes dark. “She won’t help. And we need to leave.”

Nico turned and walked off, not looking back at Leo. Nemesis chuckled to herself.

Leo stood there for a moment, completely unsatisfied with the whole interaction, before turning away from Aunt Rosa to follow Nico.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Thanksgiving break is ending, I have more things to procrastinate.   
> I don't even really remember how much Nico and Leo interacted in the books. I miss the two of them, though.   
> Anyway, please let me know what you think. See you in the next one.

Nico walked several paces in front of Leo, like he was trying to get away. Leo ran to keep up.

As they reached Festus, Leo opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped when Nico spun around to glare at him. Leo’s mouth snapped shut and the world seemed to get darker. Nico had always been creepy, maybe a little intimidating, but Leo was feeling his fight or flight reflexes kicking in. He didn't know the kid could look so terrifying. 

“That was your _plan?”_ Nico hissed, gesturing back towards Nemesis. “ _That?”_

Leo fought the urge to run away. “The prophecy predicted that one of the seven of us would die,” he said, keeping his voice as level as he could manage. “Me or Jason. That was what it came down to. Storm or fire.”

“So, what, you figured you’d just stroll into the Underworld, try to make a trade?” Nico glowered. “It doesn’t _work_ like that.”

“But the prophecy—”

“To Hades with the prophecy! Maybe this isn’t about the Prophecy of the Seven!” Nico said, throwing his hands to the side, his voice rising. “Maybe this isn’t about _you._ The prophecy is over. You _did_ die. Prophecy complete. Done, over. Maybe this has nothing to do with _that_ , and you’re just wasting our time.”

“We can’t be sure about that,” Leo argued. He ran a smoldering hand through his hair, frustrated. He wanted to explain himself but he didn't really know _how._ “What if I… Maybe… Maybe if I’d stayed dead, Jason would’ve been safe.”

“None of us are ever _safe_ ,” Nico said through gritted teeth. “You know that.”

Leo hesitated. There was a heavy, dark silence between them for a long moment. How was he supposed to explain? He knew what it sounded like. He knew what  _he_ sounded like. His plan was suicide. But what else was he supposed to do? This was Jason they were talking about. 

It was  _Jason._ And Leo didn't have a better idea. Maybe it was crazy to think it would ever work, maybe it was stupid, but Leo couldn't just do nothing. Better to do something dumb and dangerous than to just accept what had happened. Right? Hadn't that always been how Leo rolled? Hey, crazy had worked for him before. 

Leo clenched his jaw and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I was willing to take Jason’s place then,” he said simply. “And I’m willing to now.”

Nico looked away. “Okay, even…” he started. He took a shaky breath, like he was trying to get ahold of himself. “Even _if_ it worked, and that’s a big _if,_  Leo, do you really think Jason would want that? Do you _really_ think he’d be okay with it?”

Leo frowned. “I didn’t…”

“What, you didn’t think about it? Do you have _any_ idea how Jason felt when you died?” Nico fixed Leo with a glare.

Leo began to shrink away from Nico. He could feel the tension swirling around them. He’d never seen Nico look so angry. “I came back,” he said softly. "And better me than Jason, anyway."

Nico stared at him. “Are you _serious_?”

Leo was confused by the incredulous tone. _Yeah, obviously._ It seemed so clear to him. But he didn’t say that. “I came back,” he repeated. 

“That’s not the point!” Nico replied, throwing his arms up. “You really think that solves everything? That it solves _anything?_ Honestly, Leo. What do you think _happened_ after you died? To Jason? To Hazel, to Percy? To _all_ of us?”

“To… all of you?” Leo repeated slowly.

Nico’s eyes darkened and Leo thought he could feel the ground rumbling beneath him. “We grieved for you. We had a funeral with no body. You... You  _died,_ Leo. What do you think happened? Hazel and I, we... I _sensed_ it. I _felt_ you die.”

Nico took a step towards Leo, his fist clenched like he wanted to hit him. Leo stepped backwards reflexively. 

“And now, what? You thought Jason would just let you trade places with him? You thought he’d let you die? _Again?"_ Shadows lengthened around Nico, curling, surrounding the two of them like they were both going to be enveloped in darkness. “You thought _I_ would? I’d just let you kill yourself again, take Jason back with me and call it a day? Do you really think so little of Jason? Of _me?_ ”

Leo’s eyes widened. If he was being honest, he'd never even considered whether Nico would be willing to trade him for Jason. He'd treated that part of the plan as a given. After all, who wouldn't pick Jason over him? 

He really wasn’t sure what to say. He hadn't anticipated this. “I—I didn’t…” He didn’t think he’d ever heard Nico talk that much. He almost seemed out of breath. “I thought… Well, I mean… Jason, he… He's more important than me.”  

_You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel. You will not find a place among your brethren._

Nico rolled his eyes, sighing. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “You are, without a doubt, the _dumbest_ genius I’ve ever met, Valdez,” he said, his voice lowering.

“Hey, careful, that’s like, half a compliment,” Leo said, smiling weakly.

Nico glared, but it seemed like he was running out of energy. He seemed to be winding down and the shadows around him began returning to normal.

“It was the only plan I had,” Leo said, looking at the ground.

“It was a shitty plan,” Nico replied harshly.

Leo shrugged, sighing. There were a few long moments of silence, and Leo could hear leaves rustling in the wind. The calm breeze around them didn’t seem to fit.

“You really think it would be better? If you were dead and Jason was here?” Nico asked, his voice quiet.

“Well, yeah,” Leo admitted. He paused, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, don’t you? Wouldn’t you rather have Jason back?”

Nico didn’t answer for a few moments. Leo looked up to see Nico staring at him, brow furrowed, his gaze unreadable.

“You weren’t there,” Nico said finally. “You didn’t see the aftermath.”

Leo let out a short chuckle. “Yeah, you know, I missed that. I was busy. Being dead.”

Nico didn’t laugh. “I came with you because I wanted to try and save Jason,” he said. “Not because I wanted to trade you in and relive your death.”

“You mean you didn’t come because of my charming smile and winning personality?” Leo flashed a grin half-heartedly. 

He shot Leo a glare. “You need to learn when to stop making jokes.”

"Well,  _someone's_ gotta lighten the mood," Leo replied lightly. "And we all know you're not about to do it."

Nico just raised an eyebrow and held the glare.

Leo spread his hands. “Okay, okay. Yeah. I know,” he said softly.

They stood in silence for some long, tense moments. Leo didn’t know what to make of everything Nico had said. He didn’t know what to make of how _angry_ Nico was. Before this mission, Leo hadn’t really interacted with Nico all that much. He always got the impression Nico didn’t like him. Frankly, he was sure Nico hated him. 

Leo knew Nico had been furious when he’d returned from the dead. He guessed he hadn’t really considered where all that anger had come from. What it could have really been about. Leo knew that Nico sensed deaths. He knew that Nico had sensed Jason’s death.

He hadn’t even thought about the fact that Nico must have felt _his_ death. Leo didn’t even really know what that meant. What Nico felt when he sensed death. Did it hurt? He didn’t want to ask.

Leo swallowed. “Nico?”

Nico looked at him. The anger wasn’t in his expression anymore. He was completely back to being unreadable.

“I’m sorry,” Leo said. “For everything.”

Nico didn’t say anything. He didn’t even react.

“I still wish I could take Jason’s place,” Leo admitted quietly. There was a beat of silence, and for a second, Leo was worried that Nico was going to blow up again. Maybe actually punch him this time. 

But Nico just shook his head, sighing. “If it were that easy, Bianca would be here instead of me.”

Leo shoved his hands into his tool belt pockets, but he couldn’t find anything. There was nothing there. Not even breath mints. He stared at his empty hands.

“Then what are we supposed to do?” he said quietly.

“I don’t know,” Nico replied. He looked so hopeless for a moment, so crushed. He looked so _young_.

Leo thought again of that scared kid, scared of the world and himself, scared of his powers, running away from foster homes, completely lost and alone. Nico reminded Leo a little of him, of the boy he used to be. He had a sudden urge to protect this kid. Which, he decided quickly, he would absolutely _never_ tell Nico under any circumstances ever.

Leo’s resolve strengthened. Even though he didn't think Nico would ever admit it, he thought the kid could use a little optimism. “Then I guess we do what we always do,” he said, brightening.

Nico looked skeptical. “What?”

Leo shrugged. “Try anyway,” he said simply.

Nico sighed, his face troubled. “There’s one place we could go. I don’t know if we’ll find anything there.”

“Sounds like exactly the kind of solid, foolproof plan we’re all known for,” Leo said with a grin. “Lead the way, Prince of Darkness.”

“Don’t call me that,” Nico grumbled, climbing onto Festus.

“Sure thing, Dracula.”

“That’s worse.”

“Saint Nick?”

“Stop.”

Leo smiled a little. Nico sounded annoyed, but he also seemed way more relaxed. Like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he could breathe a little easier. Leo was still kind of reeling at everything Nico had said, but this made it seem worth it. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things I know nothing about: 1. Mythology. 2. Mechanics. So I'm just making some stuff up this entire story and that's the situation we're all going to have to deal with.  
> Anyway, let me know what you think! I love reading your reactions.

“Where are we?” Leo asked.

“Las Vegas,” Nic replied flatly.

“No, I can see that, man,” Leo said.

Nico looked pained, staring up at the towering hotel. “I lived here,” he replied. “For… a long time.”

Leo followed his gaze, looking up at the building in front of them. It didn’t look particularly special. “The Lotus Hotel?” Leo said slowly. He had a vague memory nagging at the back of his head, like someone had told him about this place at some point. Maybe Percy had mentioned that Nico used to live here.

Nico nodded. “We have to walk through it,” he said. He sounded like he was dreading it. “Be careful. And don’t touch anything.”

“Why not? What if there’s food?”

Nico gave Leo a wary look. “I’m serious. Keep your eyes ahead. Don’t get sucked in.”

Leo frowned. The place didn’t look all that dangerous. It just looked like a regular Vegas hotel, with bright neon lights and stylized decoration.  “What, are the bellhops Furies or something?”

Nico didn’t answer for a few moments. “There’s supposed to be a way into the Underworld somewhere in there,” Nico explained. “A kind of back entrance.”

“A back entrance?” The image of an employee entrance to the Underworld popped into Leo’s mind. Like the maid tries to come in through the DOA Records entrance, and Charon just sniffs and tells her she has to use the _servant_ entrance. He tried not to laugh.

Nico nodded. “When Bianca… When Bianca and I lived here, Hades would come check up on us every once in a while. Bianca saw him come through once. She said he came from the fountain.” He paused, frowning. “I thought she’d been making things up.”

“So we go find this fountain? Figure out how to get it open?” Leo shrugged. “Seems simple enough.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Nico warned. “Time moves differently in there. What feels like one night could be a week. Bianca and I spent decades in this place.”

“Decades?” Leo glanced at Nico. He knew that Nico, like Hazel, had been from another time. He realized he never really knew how Nico had gotten here from the forties. Or maybe he hadn’t been listening when Percy told him.

“It’s designed to make you want to stay,” Nico continued. “Free food. Video games. Warm, comfortable beds. It’s a trap.”

“Sounds nice,” Leo murmured, looking back towards the door. He felt a tug in his chest.

“Oh, it is,” Nico replied. “It’s _very_ nice. Safe, too. Maybe the safest place for Half-Bloods, if you forget that it’s a prison that’s manipulating your mind.”

“So how do we resist the delicious food and the promise of safety?” Leo asked.

Nico hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“Great,” Leo replied. “Awesome. I’m _so_ good at resisting temptation. Great impulse control, me. Known for it. This is gonna go so well.”

They were greeted by the doorman, who offered a wide smile.

“Hey, kids, need a place to rest?” he asked. His voice was warm and welcoming.

Nico looked grim. “We just need to stop in. We’re not getting rooms or food.”

The doorman’s eyes glittered, and for a moment, Leo could see something sinister in them. “Of course,” the doorman said. He gestured in, like they couldn’t find the entrance themselves. “Take as long as you like. You can check in at the front desk if you change your mind.”

“We won’t,” Nico muttered, marching forwards. He faltered right at the threshold.

“We’ll just find the fountain and jump into the Underworld,” Leo said, pausing beside him. “Piece of cake.”

“Right,” Nico said. His eyes had gotten wider, and his voice sounded distant. Leo wondered if he was thinking about how much time this place had been his home. With his sister, who he’d never see again, not even in the Underworld.

Leo took a breath and stepped into the building. A wave of air-conditioning hit him, and the smell of flowers wafted around him. He was almost immediately calmer.

“This place is nice,” Leo said distractedly, looking up at the high ceilings.

“Not that nice,” Nico said, but he sounded hesitant. He tugged at Leo’s arm. “Come on. The fountain is way in the back.”

Arcade games lined the walls. The whole place looked like an amusement park, with only kids. Leo gawked at the water-slide and the sign that advertised laser tag in the next room.

A bellhop started to walk towards them, a wide smile on his face.

“Nope,” Nico said quickly, pulling Leo away quickly, walking quickly through the lobby.

“It looked like he had something for us,” Leo said, looking back towards the bellhop.

“I’m sure he did,” Nico replied tersely. “We’re not stopping for anything. Got it?”

Leo’s gaze kept catching on the games, on the vending machines, on the snack bars. He looked around the place longingly. Was it so bad that you could spend decades here? Leo felt like he wouldn’t mind. It seemed like paradise, like a warm, safe home.

“It’s not as great as it seems,” Nico said, and Leo wondered briefly if Nico was a mind-reader.

“You sure?” Leo said, staring at a cotton candy machine as they passed it.

“It’s still a prison,” Nico replied.

“There’s nothing keeping these kids here,” Leo said, frowning. “You could leave at any time.”

Nico sighed. “It’s an insidious prison. It makes you voluntarily give up your freedom. It brainwashes you, and it steals your life.” He looked back at Leo, his dark eyes serious. “You can’t trust this place.”

Leo looked around. He thought about the nights he’d spent on the street, sleeping under bridges, in tunnels, running from the police. “So what, you just get to spend your days playing games? Never going hungry? Never worrying about where you’re going to sleep? Yeah, sounds _awful_.”

Nico’s gaze sharpened. “Yeah, it’s all fun and great until you realize you don’t remember your mom’s name. Or her face. You forget your life, who you are, and you lose _everything_ that matters.”

That got Leo’s attention. He immediately regretted his sarcastic tone. He pulled his gaze back to Nico. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “You and I just had very different childhoods.”

Nico looked at the games, and the kids playing. His eyes were pained. “Yeah,” he agreed. “And neither one was good.”

“I can’t imagine what it was like,” Leo said. “Losing your memories. Coming back into a world where time had moved on without you.”

“No, you can’t,” Nico agreed. He paused, glancing at Leo. “Just like I can’t imagine being kicked out by family and moving around foster homes.”

Leo smiled a little. Maybe he and Nico _could_ be friends. Or at least, something like it. Maybe he’d never fully understand Nico, and maybe Nico would never fully understand him, but they could find some common ground.

But they didn’t have time for all that right now.

“We have to keep going,” Nico said, moving forward again. “We can’t linger in here.”

“To the fountain,” Leo replied.

They got to the back of the hotel, managing to resist the pull of the promise of games and food and safety. They managed to resist the smell of pizza, the laughter, the thought of a warm bed, and they made it to the shadowy corner, behind the old Pac-man games.

The fountain looked out of place. It was large and made of stone, a looming, dark structure. The statues looked like they might have once depicted furies, but now, they were weathered and broken. Water still poured from it, but lopsided, like something in the mechanics had shifted and the water wasn’t pumped to the right place anymore.

Leo resisted thinking of ways to fix it, to make the water move smoothly instead of bubbling to the right. It didn’t matter. There were more important things going on.

The bubbling water still bothered him. He totally _could_ fix it…

“How do we open it?” Leo asked.

“I don’t know,” Nico said.

“Right, of course,” Leo replied.

He took a few steps forward. The air around the fountain seemed colder, but maybe that was just Leo’s nerves. He pressed a hand against the stone, closing his eyes. He reached into the fountain, sensing its moving parts beneath the surface.

“It opens from the inside,” Leo reported. “Not the outside.”

“Naturally,” Nico said with a sigh. “So we can’t get in through here?”

“I didn’t say that,” Leo replied, shooting Nico a grin. “Who do you think you’re talking to here, man? Just give me a minute. I can figure this out.”

Nico glanced back towards the main lobby anxiously, like he was expecting someone to have followed them.

Leo got to work quickly. This wasn’t a hard fix. All he had to do was manipulate the lock. It wasn’t much more difficult than picking a lock on a regular door (which, of course, Leo had _never_ done). The only complicated part was that everything was made of stone, which was just a little harder to deal with than metal or wood.

Leo rummaged through his pockets, pulling out the necessary tools. He pressed his palm against the stone again, double checking the mechanics. Moving parts. As long as something had moving parts, Leo could figure it out.

It only took a couple minutes to pull the door open. The mechanisms unlocked, and the fountain cracked open. A musty, burnt smell came from the opening. Like singed firewood that had begun to rot. Leo could feel the straining in the door, the magic that kept it closed. Leo figured the door would pull itself shut after a minute or so.

“Got it,” Leo said, satisfied. “It’ll close behind us, so we don’t have to worry about that.”

Leo started to go through the door when he heard Nico gasp behind him.

“Nico?” Leo asked, turning back to him.

Nico was stepping backwards, his eyes wide and terrified. Leo stopped in his tracks. He didn’t know what to think.

“This entrance won’t stay open forever,” Leo said.

“We can’t go in there,” Nico breathed.

“What?” Leo glanced back towards entrance. He noticed the darkness seeping out of it, but hey, it was a door to the Underworld, right? “What do you mean? We _have_ to go in.”

“That entrance,” Nico started. His voice was shaking. “It opens above Tartarus.”

Leo stared. “You mean you found us an entrance into Tartarus? How does that even work?”

“No, _above_ Tartarus,” Nico replied, still staring into the darkness. “It’s a trap. It opens into the Underworld right above the pit. We’ll fall in.”

“Is there a way to get past the pit without falling in?” Leo asked.

“We’d never make it.”

“But there _is_ a way?”

Nico hesitated. “There’s a ledge that wraps around the pit. Theoretically, you can follow it and get to the other side.” He shook his head. “But it’s too dangerous. The ledge is _designed_ to be fallen off. You’re supposed to try, and you’re supposed to fail.”

The corner of Leo’s mouth quirked up. “Sounds like a challenge.”

“The pit sucks you in,” Nico said. “If it can’t make you fall in, it’ll make you jump.”

“Come on, Nico,” Leo said. “Do you trust me?”

Nico looked at him apprehensively. “That look on your face is making me want to say no.”

Leo looked back towards the darkness. _We’ve made it this far._ “I won’t let you fall in,” he promised. “We can make it to the other side.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone order some sadness? I sure did, I guess.   
> Let me know what you think, I love reading the comments.

The ledge was even thinner than Leo had been prepared for. He had to keep his chest pressed against the cold walls as he shuffled along it, moving very slowly. Nico followed him closely, his back to the wall. Nico’s eyes were stuck on the pit, like he was making sure it didn’t go anywhere.

The other side was far. Leo pushed away the flicker of doubt that they’d be able to make it. He couldn’t think like that.

A voice echoed in his ears.

_You’ll fail. Everyone said so._

“Shut up,” Leo muttered. He barely realized he’d said it out loud until Nico flashed him a look.

“Whatever you’re hearing, that’s the pit,” Nico told him. “Don’t listen. And _don’t_ answer.”

_The seventh wheel. An extra, useless piece of equipment. Can you claim to be anything more than that?_

Leo clenched his jaw. He recognized some of those words. _He’d_ thought them. After Nemesis told him he wouldn’t find a place, after he’d been the one to get possessed and shoot at Camp Jupiter. After playing third wheel to Jason and Piper for months. After finding out Frank was afraid of him. After Hazel saw him as an echo of her childhood love, and Leo could only feel like a disappointment.

It was hard not to listen when the pit was saying things Leo had already spent months telling himself.

The voice morphed into Nemesis’ voice.

_You’ll always be the outsider. You’ll never find a place._

Leo took a deep breath.

“Don’t listen,” Nico mumbled behind him, and Leo wasn’t sure if Nico was saying it to him or to himself.

_Everything comes at a price, Leo. Aren’t you going to pay it?_

Nemesis’ voice was starting to distort.

_Leo, you can’t reduce everything to a program. You’re trying to fix it. As if every problem is a machine._

Calypso’s voice rang in his ears, so clearly he was sure Nico could hear it, too.

_You can’t fix this. Be honest, you can’t really fix anything._

Leo squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on shuffling along the ledge and gripping the wall.

_You’re not good enough. You never have been._

_It’s not her,_ Leo reminded himself. _It’s not Calypso._

_Aren’t I, though?_ the voice replied mockingly. _Come now, Leo, don’t lie to yourself. You’ve always known how Calypso really feels._

_You’re not her._ Leo couldn’t stop himself from answering in his mind.

_She’d rather have Percy. But you know that, don’t you? She loved him first. You’re her consolation prize._

It was still her voice, but it wasn’t quite right. It was devoid of emotion. It sounded like her if she’d been turned to ice.

_If it had been Jason who fell instead of you, she would have fallen for him instantly. She would have taken one look at him and known he was the kind of hero she always dreamed about._

Leo clenched his jaw. Tartarus knew where to hit. He already _knew_ that Jason could’ve been the next in the long line of heroes that had broken Calypso’s heart. Even still, he’d been worried, deep down, that Calypso would fall for Jason the moment she saw him. Leo didn’t let himself think about how they might never meet now.

_Instead, she got stuck with you. She hated you the moment she saw you._

Leo told himself he wasn’t listening. He told himself he could ignore the voice. But it was so _loud._ And it felt too real. Too true. It  _was_ too true. 

_She doesn’t love you. You were just her only option._ The voice got more distorted, like there was feedback from a microphone. It sounded like it was echoing and glitching. _She’ll leave you the first chance she gets._

“Shut up,” Leo said under his breath, pressing his forehead into the wall.

He heard a sharp gasp next to him and turned his head in time to see Nico stumble, sending rocks from the ledge into the void below. Leo grabbed Nico’s arm and pinned it against the wall to steady him. He could feel how much Nico was trembling.

_Do you really want to have to watch her leave? Have her confirm everything you’ve always known about yourself?_ the voice whispered, almost kindly. _Don’t give her the chance. Jump, and you can leave her first._

Leo let out a short laugh. “Nice try, man, but you’re gonna have to do _way_ better than that,” he replied.

Nico glanced at him, looking horrified. “Are you _crazy_?”

Leo shot him a lopsided smile. “We’ve met, right?”

_Is that a challenge?_ Leo recognized his own voice, a mocking tone. He rolled his eyes. Like his own voice could really hurt him.

Leo glanced at where they’d been, to where they needed to go. They made it to about the halfway mark across, but the other side seemed like it was getting farther away. He tried to shuffle without taking his hand too far away from Nico’s arm. He’d _promised_ that he wouldn’t let Nico fall.

All they had to do was last to the other side. They’d made it this far. The ledge felt like it was getting thinner, but Leo couldn’t worry about that now. He didn’t have a solution to that. He glanced back at Nico, seeing that his hands were still trembling.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Pause. Take a deep breath. It’ll be easier if you can stop shaking.”

Leo half expected Nico to glare or snap at him, tell him that he didn’t ask for help or something. But Nico just nodded his head slightly and took a long, trembling breath.

Leo started to shuffle again, inching slowly across. He glanced back to make sure Nico was keeping pace with him.

He’d almost forgotten about the voices from the pit.

_The boy killed his mother. He can’t be trusted._

Leo’s heart immediately started pounding. He knew that voice. Aunt Rosa. He muttered a curse to himself. He’d already had to _see_ her in the form of Nemesis. This seemed like overkill.

_He’s a monster. He’s not my family._

No matter how much Leo tried to tell himself that it didn’t hurt anymore, his chest still tightened every time he remembered those words. Hearing them again just put him back in that moment.

_I was just a kid._

_Just a kid? Sure, mijo, just an innocent little kid who set his mother on fire. You have no place here, not in this house._

Leo clenched his jaw. _You can’t blame me any more than I already blamed myself, Nightmare Pit._

He glanced back at Nico again. Nico’s eyes were squeezed shut, and his lips were moving like he was whispering. He’d stopped shuffling, and Leo hadn’t noticed. He was out of reach now.

“Nico,” Leo said. “Remember what you told me. Don’t listen. Don’t answer.”

Nico’s eyes flew open and his foot slipped.

Leo yelped, taking the largest step towards Nico he could risk. Luckily, Nico had managed to catch himself, his arms pressing into the stone wall while his foot hung just over the side.

“Hang on,” Leo said, shuffling as fast as he could.

“Really? I thought letting go might be a good idea,” Nico replied dryly, sounding out of breath.

“Nah, then I’d have to jump down, too, and we’re not Percy and Annabeth.” Leo reached him, gripping Nico’s forearm and helping steady him and he got his foot firmly back on the ledge. He slowly let go of Nico and waited a few moments, keeping his hand hovering right over Nico’s arm. “You good?”

Nico glanced at him and nodded.

Leo looked back to the other side. “Not much farther,” he said.

As they inched along the ledge, Leo was especially careful to not move faster than Nico. He looked back every few seconds to make sure Nico was still moving, scraping his nose against the wall several times.

They managed to get about three-quarters of the way over without much more trouble.

Then the voice from the pit came back and Leo froze in his tracks.

_Wait here, mijo. I’ll only be a minute._

It was Leo’s mother. Clear as day. The last words she ever said to him, before she went into the warehouse and burned to death.

Hearing her voice immediately brought tears stinging into his eyes. He pressed his palms and forehead into the wall, choking back an involuntary sob.

_Nothing is unfixable. Isn’t that right, Leo? Isn’t that what I told you? Isn’t that what you’ve repeated to yourself ever since I died?_

“Don’t,” Leo murmured into the wall. “Please.”

_Oh, mijo, you’ve believed that fairytale for so long. Haven’t you grown up at all? You should know by now that not everything can be fixed. Leo, honey, you don’t know your own limits._

The voice was tender, kind. A little sympathetic. It sounded so much like his mother. Like when she would comfort him. Leo could hear his pulse in his ears. He never thought he’d hear his mother’s voice again, but this… This was so, so much worse.

“Leo,” Nico said behind him. “Focus.”

He sounded so far away.

_You can’t fix death, Leo. You know that. I’m never coming back. You already failed to save me, and now you have to live with it. It’s okay, Leo._

“Whatever you’re hearing, it’s not real,” Nico continued.

_You’ll never see Jason again. You’ll never see me again._

“Leo, stay with me.”

_You don’t have to keep holding on. Isn’t it just so painful? Isn’t it time to let go?_

“We don’t have that much farther, come on.” 

_You can let go, Leo. It’s alright. Let go of your guilt, of your responsibility. There’s nothing left you can do._

Leo could feel his mother’s voice coaxing him. He could feel his grip on the wall loosening. For a few moments, all he wanted to do was let go. For the first time in his life, giving up seemed so tempting. He could feel the tug of Tartarus in his chest, like a string was connected from his heart to the center of the Earth.

“Leo, please,” Nico said, his voice sounding tight and desperate. “I can’t shadow travel us the last few feet. It’ll pull us in if I try.”

Leo took a deep breath, pressing his palms into the stone walls. _Focus._

_The pit can only hurt me if I let it,_ Leo told himself.

Jason needed him. Nico needed him. Calypso needed him.

He couldn’t give up. Giving up wasn’t in Leo’s nature anyway.

“Nice try,” he muttered to Tartarus.

“Leo?” Nico said tentatively.

“I’m here,” Leo said, willing strength into his voice. “Only a few more steps, right? Easy. No problems here. We can do this.”

Nico breathed a sigh of relief and Leo shuffled forwards.

_I hope you’re proud of yourself, Leo,_ his mother’s voice taunted. _You’re going to die anyway._

He let himself grin. “You don’t know me, Nightmare Pit.”

_I know more than you think._

Leo decided not to dwell on that.

When they finally got to the other side, Leo’s strength faltered. He took several paces away from the abyss before collapsing to the ground, hugging his knees to his chest. Those last few moments of resolve had taken everything left in him.

Nico knelt on the ground beside him, looking about as shell-shocked as Leo felt.

The worst part was that there was a part of Leo that wanted to go back over to the pit, stare back into Tartarus, just so he could hear his mother’s voice again. Even if it wasn’t really her. Even if what she said hurt.

“We made it,” Nico murmured.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Leo replied with a thin laugh.

“We’re going to have to keep moving,” Nico said, not making a move to stand up.

“I think Jason will understand if we need a minute,” Leo said.

“If we even get to Jason,” Nico replied. He already sounded defeated. Leo wondered what the pit had said to _him._

“Ever the optimist, Prince of Darkness,” Leo said.

“Don’t call me that.”

“But it fits so well.”

“How do you have the energy for this?”

Leo’s weak smile fell and he sighed. “I don’t,” he said. “Not really.”

Nico studied Leo’s face for a moment. “Let’s just… take a minute.”

Leo nodded, slumping over a little more. He’d never felt so heavy. He pulled his focus, remembering what he was here for. He just had to hold it together for Jason. That was what mattered.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how many chapters there are left. Two or three, maybe? We'll see. Anyway, anyone see any disappointing shows lately? I'm here distracting myself.   
> Let me know what you think!

They hadn’t gotten very far before they started having to dodge hellhounds. Most of the other monsters seemed to avoid Nico, but the dogs started growling before they were even visible.

“Man, the dogs really don’t like you,” Leo said, panting as they ducked behind a crumbling stone wall.

Nico shot a glare. “It’s probably you they’re smelling, not me.”

“Whatever you wanna tell yourself.” Leo hesitantly leaned over the stone wall, eyes darting around. “Okay, I think they’re gone.

Then a growl came from his other side. _Spoke too soon._

“Leo,” Nico said slowly. “Don’t. Move.”

Leo kept as still as he could, but it was killing him to not look. He ventured a quick glance over his shoulder and he wished he hadn’t. An enormous, impossibly black dog was approaching, teeth bared. It was drooling like it couldn’t wait to make Leo a meal.

Everything was frozen for a few seconds, but Leo could feel the tension rising in his chest. Internally, he begged himself to relax. He tried to control his breath, control his shaking hands, but it was too late.

The next few moments happened very quickly. Leo’s hands ignited. The dog flinched, startled, before barreling towards them. Nico grabbed Leo’s sleeve and dragged him away fast.

“Can you shadow travel us?” Leo said, looking over his shoulder a bit too much as they ran. The dog was gaining on them fast.

“Even if I could, hellhounds shadow travel too,” Nico hissed back.

“We’re dead,” Leo said flatly, keeping his eyes on the hellhound. He didn’t see the rocks in his path, and he stumbled, nearly somersaulting.

“How dumb are you?” Nico snapped as he pulled Leo to his feet, still trying to run. “Watching the hellhound chase us isn’t helping!”

“Perhaps I can be of some service,” a voice in front of them said.

Nico and Leo skidded to a halt, stopping just in front of a strange, beautiful woman. She offered them a soothing smile before waving a hand.

The growling faded away, and their surroundings shifted.

Leo glanced back. No hellhounds. He looked back at the woman, realizing that in the distance behind her, he could see the palace of Hades.

At least they knew where they were now, but uh…

Leo wasn’t a fan of receiving help from mysterious strangers. There always seemed to be a catch or an ulterior motive. And Leo was exhausted.

 “Why, hello, heroes,” the woman said, her voice friendly. She was tall, with long black hair that seemed to move despite the lack of breeze. She looked distinctly out of place, and Leo was already apprehensive.

“Uh, hey, random lady,” Leo replied. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“You could thank me, you know.” She smiled. “My name is Melpomene. I am one of the nine Muses.”

Nico and Leo exchanged a confused look.

“Um. Thanks.” Leo couldn’t make his tone sound sincere. He was too suspicious of helpful immortals. They never turned out to _actually_ be helpful.

“And what’s a Muse doing in the Underworld?” Nico asked slowly.

She clasped her hands together and let out a wistful sigh. “Oh, of course, I go where I’m needed.”

“I don’t know that you’re needed here,” Nico replied.  

“I had to get you to the end of the story, of course,” she said with a wink. “Can’t let you die before the climax, now can I?”

Leo tried to flip through his knowledge of Greek history. He should’ve paid more attention in class. He didn’t remember anything about the Muses. Something about poetry? Leo wasn’t sure.

Melpomene laughed, a clear, crisp sound that didn’t seem to fit with their surroundings. “I am the Muse of tragedy, darling,” she said. Leo wondered if she could read minds.

“Oh, yeah, sorry, definitely not needed here,” Leo said quickly. “No tragedy here. Nothing to see. Just some run of the mill heroics. Sorry for wasting your time. Nico?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind, we’ll just be going now,” Nico said, trying to step away.

Melpomene looked like she was amused. “Oh, heroes never change, do they? It’s one of those comforting constants of life. Humans will always make the same mistakes, over and over and over. It’s in your nature.”

Leo frowned, feeling a little indignant at that. He was getting real tired of immortals being condescending. They'd just had to grapple with Tartarus' whispers, and he was  _not_ in the mood for this. 

“But now, this…” She continued, gesturing around. “This, I can’t wait to see. A tale of demi-gods, succumbing to hubris and embarking on an _obviously_ doomed quest? Their fatal flaws guiding them along the way? In all probability, dying due to their own mistakes?” Melpomene shook her head and smiled. “You simply don’t see classic tragedies anymore. They’ve fallen out of style. Everything needs a _twist_ now. There’s no appreciation for watching the inevitable downfalls of heroes.”

“This isn’t a story,” Nico said, an edge to his tone.

“Oh, isn’t it?” Melpomene replied. “Someday, long after your existence is forgotten, versions of this story will be told, as with all the stories and misguided demi-gods. The audience will learn from your mistakes, experience catharsis at your inevitable death.” She sighed. “I do so miss the tragic hero archetype. And _your_ fatal flaws are just so _fun_.”

“You don’t know how this’ll end,” Leo said, but he could hear the doubt in his own voice.  

“Ah, of course, that is where the narrative tension lies in a tragedy, isn’t it? Think of dear Orpheus. Oh, now _there_ was a _true_ tragic hero. He got so close to saving his beloved Eurydice. So, so close. The most tragic thing about his story is that ultimately, he had no one to blame but himself. Hades gave him a fair chance. There was always a moment, right at the end of the story, where you almost believed that there would be a happy ending.” Melpomene let her gaze wander into the distance. “But of course, the story always ends the same way.”

“Aren’t you a little too cheerful to be the Muse of Tragedy?” Leo asked, irritated.

“Tragedies don’t make you _sad,”_ Melpomene replied. She spread her hands. “They offer _catharsis_. That was their very point. A release of emotion, a sense of narrative completion. Unless you’re the heroes of the story, a good tragedy can make you feel rejuvenated. There’s something so… _freeing_ about it.”

“Well, lady, sorry we can’t appreciate it,” Leo replied. He was getting very frustrated with this entire interaction. “We still have to live it, so…”

“Oh, of course, I’ll let you go on your way in just a few moments,” Melpomene replied, waving her hand. “We don’t want to delay the climax, do we? The show must go on!”

“Right,” Nico said flatly. Leo glanced at him. His expression was blank, almost bored. Leo was wondering how he wasn’t furious.

“It’s just so rare that I get to actually _participate_ in tragic hero stories,” she said. She sounded downright bubbly, and Leo could feel his fingers burning up. “Oh, I’m sure I’ll _cry,_ this story is going to be _so_ heartbreaking.”

Leo tried to stop his hands from smoking but it was hard. He was sick of being jerked around. He was sick of being toyed with. He was _sick_ of everything that had to do with being a demi-god. This was his _life._ And he _mattered._ And _Nico_ mattered. And _Jason_ mattered.

“Oh, I can’t even remember the last time I saw a movie that gave me the kind of catharsis only a true tragedy can,” she continued. “I mean, Shakespeare could write a good tragedy, but that was already a few hundred years ago, wasn’t it? _Titanic_ simply didn’t do the trick.”

Leo shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn’t want to set anything on fire. He shrugged, trying to put on an air of nonchalance. “I like comedies better.”

Melpomene frowned. “Well, that’s not your fault. Youths nowadays simply have no taste.”

“I’m more into historical fiction myself,” Nico said casually. “Which of your sisters is that again? Clio? Tell her I like her work, will you?”

Leo stifled a laugh. He’d have to remember that Nico could be funny when he wanted to be.

Melpomene narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. Leo found her annoyance very satisfying.

“I don’t want to hold you up any longer,” she said, her voice colder. “You have your untimely demises to get to, after all.”

With that, she vanished and the light dimmed.

Leo glanced at Nico.

“I didn’t like her,” Nico said.

“No kidding,” Leo replied. “Off to see your dad then, I guess?”

Nico kept his eyes on the palace in the distance, looking pained. “Guess so.”


End file.
